 She was standing near the lawyer Vittorio Bachelet when he was assassinated by the Red Brigades in 1980.She held the position of vice-president of Azione Cattolica, the most popular Italian Catholic lay association, from 1984 to 1989, the year she joined the Christian Democracy (DC) party.After the dissolution of the DC party, Bindi joined the Italian People's Party and became a leading figure in The Olive Tree, the broad left-to-centre coalition led by Romano Prodi.