He was an important figure of the July Monarchy in France, and the minister of justice in the government of the Papal States, under Pope Pius IX.

This was rejected by a majority of the population, a result which deeply affected Rossi and made him accept the invitation of François Guizot to settle in France.

[3] In 1845, Guizot appointed Rossi as ambassador of France to the Papal States, with a specific mission to discuss the question of the Jesuits.

Rossi's program of moderate liberalism, in which suffrage was to be limited to the well-off and the economic and social disruptions created by industrialization went unaddressed, had narrow appeal.

[4] Rossi attempts to mediate reform, were blocked by the reactionary clerical party, and rebuffed as paltry by the rising revolutionary sentiment.

In addition, the notion of a united Italy as a federation, kingdom, or republic was proposed by the diverse forces; however some of these ideas clearly threatened the temporal power of various rulers.