{{Giulio Andreotti personified the nation he helped shape, the good and the bad.<\/p>\n
One of Italy’s most important postwar figures, he helped draft the country’s constitution after World War II, served seven times as premier and spent 60 years in Parliament.}}<\/p>\n
But the Christian Democrat who was friends with popes and cardinals was also a controversial figure who survived corruption scandals and allegations of aiding the Mafia: Andreotti was accused of exchanging a “kiss of honor” with the mob’s longtime No. 1 boss and was indicted in what was called “the trial of the century” in Palermo.
\nHe was eventually cleared, but his legacy was forever marred.<\/p>\n
Still clinging to his last official title, senator-for-life, Andreotti died Monday at age 94 after an extended period of poor health that included a hospitalization for a heart ailment.<\/p>\n
Andreotti grew more stooped with age, and infirmity kept him from what few official duties remained, such as opening the inaugural session of the new Senate in March, a privilege reserved for the eldest-serving member that fell this time to the next-in-line.<\/p>\n
Andreotti, a key player in the now-defunct Christian Democratic Party that dominated politics for nearly half a century, helped bring prosperity to what was once one of Europe’s poorest countries. <\/p>\n
When a corruption scandal flushed out the old political guard in the 1990s, marking the end of the first Italian Republic, he survived.<\/p>\n
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