A journalist, he joined the PLI in 1955 and was its secretary from 1976 to 1985. An MP (1976-94), he was Minister for Ecology (1985-86), Industry (1986-87) and Defence (1987-89) and Mayor of Turin (1990-91). Following the dissolution of the PLI (1994) he founded the Federation of Italian Liberals (FdL), later joining La Margherita in 2001. In 2004, he founded the Association for Liberal Democracy. In 2006 he was elected to the Senate on the La Margherita list, ending his term in 2008. From 1990 to 2007 he was uninterruptedly president of the Luigi Einaudi Foundation. His bond with the foundation was so close that he identified with it, and at the commemoration held in the Senate when he passed away, all the parliamentary groups recalled how close he was to his beloved foundation, where he would take refuge as soon as he could to write and deepen his studies.