He has pursued the one with which he is most comfortable given the constraints of his character, consistently choosing the message of bipartisanship over the message of confrontation.

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But Mr Berlusconi had already given a glimpse of the populist side of his political character.

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She said her GP colleagues had given her a lot of gentle ribbing about how unlikely his character was.

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The trait most signally absent from his character is resignation, the passive acceptance of the given, the known, the status quo.

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The Distinguished Flying Cross was given to Flt Lt Alexander Duncan for his "consummate professionalism and strength of character while recovering an aircraft and pressing ahead with an air assault in the face of intense fire".

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