Gianni Letta is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 ex politician and journalist.

After graduating in law, he started working as a journalist for several daily newspapers, as well as RAI

RAI

RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

 and ANSA

ANSA

ANSA may refer to:* ANSA, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs , also sometimes abbreviated NSA*Armed non-state actors, a term used in political science*Ansa *Artists for a new South AfricaTechnology:...

.

He was editor-in-law of Il Tempo from 1973 to 1987; that year, he left the newspaper in order to enter into the Fininvest

Fininvest

Fininvest is a financial holding company controlled by Silvio Berlusconi's family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi.-Structure:...

 group owned by Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

. He hosted a number of TV programmes, especially on Canale 5

Canale 5

Canale 5 is an Italian private television network of Mediaset, the media branch of Fininvest. Canale 5 was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980, based on a local channel, TeleMilano 58, founded in 1978....

.

After Berlusconi's entry into politics, he became undersecretary of the first government led by Berlusconi in 1994, an office he took again from 2001 to 2006.

Berlusconi nominated him as the House of Freedoms

House of Freedoms

The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...

 candidate to succeed Carlo Azeglio Ciampi

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi

dr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is an Italian politician and banker. He was the 73rd Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and was the tenth President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006...

 as President of the Italian Republic

President of the Italian Republic

The President of the Italian Republic is the head of state of Italy and, as such, is intended to represent national unity and guarantee that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The president's term of office lasts for seven years....

. In the first ballot

Italian presidential election, 2006

The 2006 election of the President of the Italian Republic was held on May 2–10, 2006. As a second-level, indirect election, only Members of Parliament and regional deputies were entitled to vote...

 held on May 8, he received 369 votes, not enough to be elected. He received the votes from the right-wing coalition but he was soundly refused by the majority of the house, L'Unione

The Union (political coalition)

The Union was an centre-left coalition of political parties in Italy. It was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008, and former President of the European Commission.-Parties:...

, for being considered as the factotum

Factotum

Factotum is the second novel by American author Charles Bukowski. The plot follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's alter ego, who has been rejected from the World War II draft and makes his way from one menial job to the next...

 of Silvio Berlusconi.
The elections were won by Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano is an Italian politician who has been the 11th President of Italy since 2006. A long-time member of the Italian Communist Party and later the Democrats of the Left, he served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1992 to 1994 and as Minister of the Interior from 1996 to...

, the candidate of L'Unione, on May 10.

He is the uncle of Enrico Letta

Enrico Letta

Enrico Letta is an Italian politician, and was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in the 2006 General election for the Olive Tree coalition...

, a centre-left politician and MEP.

Part of Letta's duties for Berlusconi include co-ordinating the Italian government's activities with the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

.