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Brown Journal of World Affairs: What motivated you to leave academia and join politics in Italy?
Romano Prodi: There was a deep political crisis in the 1990s that affected all political parties. When Berlusconi came to power, I strongly opposed the values he represented. Because of my previous experience as an academic, editorialist, and as former president of IRI (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale—the biggest government conglomerate), a group of friends and colleagues invited me to run as a Berlusconi’s opponent. Politically, I have always belonged to the center-left, without any party affiliation, but close to the left wing of the Christian Democratic Party (PDS). Moreover, no professional center-left politician wanted to risk his career in a challenge that was to be certainly lost. On 2 February 1995 I announced my plans to run.
My decision surprised everybody, but also gave hope to many. I spent the following year traveling by bus, an old bus, because we had no money. In the beginning, everybody underestimated my effort because it was absolutely out of Italian tradition. Many laughed, but I worked step-by-step, day-by-day. There was no money; it was so tiring and so difficult that it seemed almost impossible, but with the passing months, the crowd was increasing both in the cities and in the villages.
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