Whether as a politician or media tycoon, the former prime minister and businessman who died Monday at 83, left an imprint, or a bruise, on just about everything he touched.
The former Italian prime minister and media mogul, who died at 86, was a divisive figure, but even his foes acknowledged that he was an influential political and cultural force.
He introduced sex and glamour to Italian TV, and then brought the same formula to politics, dominating the country and its culture for more than 20 years.
Inflation and anxiety over nuclear weapons may be eating into some popular support for the war, but key governments remain insulated from the pressures for now.
Long marginalized politically and ostracized socially, the new prime minister’s supporters sense a chance to give a final blow to the stigma and shame of their association with Fascism.