He was dictator "pro tempore" of Emilia from July 20, 1859 to March 13, 1860. He had the same role in Romagna from November 9, 1859. Farini was appointed President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy in the December 8, 1862. However, he was struck by a nervous disease that would take him to madness. During the Polish uprising of January 1863, he threatened the king Victor Emmanuel II with a knife. This was because he wanted to force him to declare war against the Russian Empire. As a result of this act, he was commitmed to the asylu of Novalese, a small town near Turin. Farini died at Genoa in poverty in 1866.