At the age of 23 he was President of the Catholic Action Movement and already in 1944 he was a member of the Christian Democrat National Council. He started his political career in Government in 1947 as Under-Secretary to the Cabinet during the administration of Alcide De Gasperi. During his long career he served as Home Affairs Minister (1954), as Finance and Industry and Commerce Minister and was three times Minister of Foreign Affairs. Seven times Italian Prime Minister between 1972 and 1992, he is life Senator of the Italian Republic since 1991.