He arrived in Washington in the spring of 1842 with the power to settle all disputes with the United States.
VOA: special.2009.02.05
Two years later, magistrates in Milan said they were investigating whether Berlusconi paid for sex with an underage prostitute named Ruby the Heartbreaker, then used his power to spring her from jail in an unrelated incident in which she was picked up for theft.
His words had a special resonance, because one Italian politician has just floated the idea of a broad coalition to keep Mr Monti in power after next spring's election.