Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until his ousting in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a legal dictatorship. Known as Il Duce ("the leader"). Mussolini was one of the key figures in the creation of fascism.

His version of fascism was nationalist rather than racist like Adolf Hitler's, but it was still authoritarian and involved the conquest of "lesser" peoples and countries, notably Ethiopia and Albania. For a long time, he was considered the scarier of the two fascists, but in the end proved much less effective or troublesome than Hitler.

It has been said that his rule wasn't so bad, because "he made the trains run on time." Given how notoriously difficult Italy has been to run, that might have been an accomplishment, except he didn't actually make the trains run on time. Mussolini also managed to keep the Sicilian mafia under control for one of the few times in history. As a result the US Navy made several deals with convicted mob boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano prior to invading the island.

Much of the repair work had been performed before Mussolini and the Fascists came to power in 1922. Accounts from the era also suggest that the Italian railways' legendary adherence to timetables was more propaganda than reality.