[4] Beginning as a protégé of Alcide De Gasperi, Fanfani achieved cabinet rank at a young age and occupied all the major offices of state over the course of a forty-year political career.

[5] In domestic policy, he was known for his cooperation with the Italian Socialist Party, which brought to an alliance that radically changed the country, by such measures as the nationalization of Enel, the extension of compulsory education, and the introduction of a more progressive tax system.

Six years later, after the resignation of Giovanni Leone, he provisionally assumed the functions of President of the Republic as chairman of the upper house of the Italian Parliament, until the election of Sandro Pertini.

Fanfani and the long-time liberal leader Giovanni Giolitti still hold the record as the only statesmen to have served as prime minister of Italy in five non-consecutive periods of office.

He was sometimes nicknamed Cavallo di Razza ("Purebred Horse"),[7] thanks to his innate political ability; however, his detractors simply called him "Pony" due to his small size.

His father, Giuseppe Fanfani (1878–1943), was a carpenter's son who succeeded in studying and graduating in law, starting the profession of lawyer and notary; while his mother Annita Leo (1884–1968) was a housewife.

The law also established a special housing fund, the so-called "INA-Casa", within the National Institute for Insurance (Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni, or INA).

Since De Gasperi's retirement in 1953 Fanfani emerged as the most probable successor, a role confirmed by his appointment as party secretary in June 1954, a position that he would held until March 1959.

However the right-wing of the party, led by Giuseppe Pella and Giulio Andreotti, organized an internal coup to get the Christian Democrat Giovanni Gronchi elected instead.

[46] However, he failed to leave a mark in domestic politics, despite his ambitious proposal of a 10-year plan for the development of public school, which was approved by the Parliament but not implemented.

[51] In party's congress in October 1959, Moro was slightly confirmed secretary, after a thought battle with Fanfani, who was defeated thanks to the decisive vote of the right-wing faction of Mario Scelba and Giulio Andreotti.

[56] In February 1962, after the national congress of the Christian Democracy, Fanfani reorganised his cabinet and gained the benign abstention of the socialist leader Pietro Nenni.

Moreover, the new international balance of power marked by the presidency of John F. Kennedy, influenced Western politics in favor of reformism, as the best alternative to defeat communism.

[61] Despite a good approval in public opinion, his reformist policy produced a significant mistrust of the Italian industrial class and the right-wing of the Christian Democracy; multinational potentates opposed the opening to the Arab countries led by Fanfani's ally Enrico Mattei, founder of Eni.

[64] In August 1964, President Antonio Segni suffered a serious cerebral hemorrhage while he was working at the presidential palace; he only partially recovered and decided to resign.

Once again the move failed, being weakened by the divisions within his own party and the candidacy of the socialist Francesco De Martino, who received votes from PCI, PSI and some PSDI members.

[23][82] In June 1973 Fanfani was elected secretary of the Christian Democracy for a second term, replacing his former protégé Arnaldo Forlani, who was now a supporter of centrist policies.

Their main themes were the safeguarding of the traditional nuclear family model and the Roman Catechism;[85][86] while most left-wing political forces, including PCI and PSI, supported the "no" faction.

Fanfani thought that a "no" victory could have given him the control of in his own party again; in fact other key figures like Moro, Rumor, Emilio Colombo and Francesco Cossiga, who believed in the defeat at the referendum, kept a low profile during the campaign.

[89] On 3 August 1975, Fanfani married his second wife, Maria Pia Vecchi (née Tavazzani), a widow and strong-willed woman engaged in multiple voluntary activities, nationally and internationally.

Meanwhile, on 30 July 1976, Moro reached an agreement with the Communist leader, Enrico Berlinguer, to start a government composed only by Christian Democrats but with the abstention of the PCI.

[94] In March 1978, the political crisis was overcome by the intervention of Aldo Moro, who proposed a new cabinet, again formed only by Christian Democratic politicians, but with positive confidence votes from the other parties, including Berlinguer's PCI.

The dramatic situation which followed brought PCI to vote for Andreotti's cabinet for the sake of what was called "national solidarity", despite its refusal to accept several previous requests.

[99] In June 1981, Giovanni Spadolini, a member of the Republican Party, was appointed prime minister, becoming the first non-Christian Democrat to hold the office since the foundation of the republic.

[100] In November 1982, Spadolini was forced to resign due to the so-called "godmothers' quarrel", a political conflict between ministers Beniamino Andreatta and Rino Formica about the separation between Ministry of Treasury and Bank of Italy.

Even though he was a close friend of Craxi, the socialist leader did not participate in the swearing in ceremony, sending the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Giuliano Amato, to protest against De Mita's decision.

[123] In January 1994, he supported the dissolution of the Christian Democracy, which had been overwhelmed by Tangentopoli corruption scandal, and the formation of the Italian People's Party (PPI).

Admirers emphasize his reformist agenda and his ambition to cooperate with socialists, laying the groundwork for the birth of the modern centre-left, of which he is widely considered one of the main founding fathers.

His authoritarian nature and factionalism within the Christian Democracy turned out to be the biggest obstacles to the emergence of "Fanfanism", the Italian version of Gaullism, and one by one he lost all his offices.

[23] In an obituary for La Stampa, journalist Filippo Ceccarelli [it] reflected that Fanfani's commitment to public service inspired the values of the state broadcaster RAI, which matured during his political career.