Convicted of tax crime, banned from public office, banned from power, suspected of mafia conspiracy, calculated, written down - Silvio Berlusconi has had a hard time.
But now he is aiming for revenge.
That he turns 86 in September and was very ill in covid in the autumn of 2020 does not stop him.
Not all scandals and setbacks either.
Genom åren har jag rapporterat om allt från hans första valseger, 1994 med det nybildade partiet Forza Italia, till hans flerfaldiga comebacker som premiärminister. Men jag har också skrivit spaltmeter om Berlusconis skandaler, sexskämt i EU-parlamentet och hans vilda fester i Villa Arcore utanför Milano. Fester som gick under namnet ”Bunga bunga” och där prostituerade samt unga tjejer från hans tv-kanaler underhållit maktens män.
Now that the much-appreciated President Sergio Mattarella is leaving office, Berlusconi wants to take over his role as father of the country.
The judges give him quite a few chances, but for Berlusconi it would be the perfect revenge and the end of his career and life.
The Italian president has a limited political role, he is a kind of king of the republic with certain political powers.
Berlusconi would more than like to shoulder that mantle and occupy il Quirinale, the presidential palace on one of Rome's hills.
His opponents can not believe that it is true that Berlusconi's ghost once again walks through the corridors of power.
"Understood the power of television early"
But the supporters of the Cavalier, as he is usually called, believe that no one meant more to the country in modern times.
The image of Berlusconi abroad is sometimes only that of the clown and the filthy old man, but it is superficial and ignorant.
He was for a long time Italy's richest and most powerful man, as Prime Minister and with his finance and media empire.
He understood the power of television early on and found yet another ingenious entrance into the hearts of voters through the Milan football club, in a modern version of bread and spectacle for the people.
Later, his star has dropped, for several reasons.
But the fact that Silvio Berlusconi is now fighting for the presidency says most things about him, the role he played and above all about the hunger for power that has been his driving force ever since he started as a vacuum cleaner salesman for housewives in the suburbs of Milan.