Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour
The first officeholder was Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who took the office in March 1861 after the unification of Italy. Cavour previously served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, an office from which the Italian Prime Minister took most of its powers and duties. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia was first established in 1848, although it was not mentioned in the state's constitution, the Albertine Statute. The candidate for office was appointed by the king and presided over a very unstable political system. In its first 60 years of existence (1861–1921), Italy changed its prime minister 37 times. Regarding this situation, the first goal of Benito Mussolini, appointed in 1922 after a coup d'état, was to abolish the Parliament's power to put him to a vote of no confidence, thus basing his power on the will of the king and the National Fascist Party alone.