It's always been hard to tell whether Berlusconi has wielded more influence out of office or in.
The electorate suspected him of working under the influence of his office to locate important government offices on the land owned by the company.
This gradual increase in the power and influence of the office of the vice president accelerated enormously when Cheney took the post in January 2001.
Her intelligence and political acumen made her Justinian's most trusted adviser and enabled her to use the power and influence of her office to promote religious and social policies that favoured her interests.
Holder's real legacy lies in his refusal to be a coward on matters of race, and his courage in using the power and influence of his office to press the arc of our criminal law a little closer toward justice.
How is anyone expected to come away from these hearings with anything less than a feeling of complete and total failure of the system to protect us from those who seek to use the power and influence of their office for their own selfish gains?
While most incoming vice presidents arrive eager to expand the influence of the office, Mr. Biden faces the unusual conundrum of figuring out how to scale it back.
Mr. Cheney, who is heading the transition, is redefining the scope and influence of an office that John Nance Garner, a vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt, is regularly quoted as having said wasn't "worth a pitcher of warm spit".
He gave examples ranging from a judge using the influence of judicial office to evade a speeding ticket to the recent case of a judge in Syracuse accused of engaging in sexual activity with his 5-year-old niece.
