the Italian government, which was supported by Leone, but Andreotti refused. During his imprisonment, Moro wrote a statement expressing very harsh judgements against Andreotti. On 9 May 1978, Moro's body was found in the trunk of a Renault 4 in Via Caetani, after 55 days of imprisonment, during which Moro was submitted to a political trial by the so-called "people's court" set up by the Red Brigades. Lockheed scandal and resignation Leone's political career came to an end in 1978 due to the Lockheed bribery scandal. The allegations came from the United States and were supported by the Italian political magazine L'Espresso. According to the allegations, Lockheed bribed many high-profile politicians in Italy to purchase Hercules Aircraft for the military. Leone and his family were allegedly implicated in the bribery. In June 1978, after months of polemics, Leone resigned as President of the Republic. However, the accusations were never proved and the most prominent of his accusers was convicted of libel three times. Death and legacy After his resignation, Leone continued sitting in the Parliament as a Senator for life. Moreover, through writings and interviews, as well as judgments, he also had the opportunity to reaffirm and stress the correctness of his acts as President and the unreliability of the accusations moved against his family and him. In addition, several of those politicians who had attacked him most during the presidency, also had the opportunity of apologizing to him. Among these, the radical leaders Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino, who on the occasion of Leone's 90th birthday, openly expressed their regrets. On 25 September 2001, just a few weeks before his 93rd birthday, a decree by the Prime Minister awarded Leone of the title of President Emeritus of the Republic; the office would be later applied to all the future former presidents. Giovanni Leone died in Rome, on 9 November 2001, at his villa on the Via Cassia. On 25 November 2006, President Giorgio Napolitano stated that the Senate had granted full recognition of the correctness of Leone's actions, completely rehabilitating his political actions. Leone was portrayed as a key antagonist in the 2020 film Rose Island, which tells the story of the Republic of Rose Island and the Government's attempts to destroy it. Leone was played in the film by Luca Zingaretti. Electoral history Presidential elections References External links 1908 births 2001 deaths Politicians from Naples Italian Roman Catholics