His son Charles Lindbergh (1902-74) loved machines from a young age, especially the family’s Model T Ford. And The Spirit of St Louis. People knew that from birth on, Charles Lindbergh had had difficulty connecting with humans. But while his obsessive love of machines helped make him a problematic husband and hopeless father later on, it was precisely what he needed to grab a spot in history books.
Charles Lindbergh, May 1927
and the Spirit of St Louis
and the Spirit of St Louis
Charles studied mechanical engineering at Wisconsin Uni before pursuing a career in flying. Then the aviator became world famous for the first, heroic solo transatlantic plane flight, New York-Paris in 1927. This daring flight was 33.5 hours in the air. After his daring feat, large crowds excitedly cheered Lindbergh wherever he went.
He had became famous for his historic, solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic in May 1927 on the Spirit of St Louis. After his flight Lindbergh received public adoration in newspapers, magazines, universities and radio shows. Appropriately Lindbergh was promoted to Colonel in the Air Corps of the Officers Reserve Corps in July 1927. Then he married Anne Morrow (1906-2001) in 1929!
The Charles Lindbergh House and Museum MN presented the terrible information. In Jun 1930 the Lindberghs welcomed the first of six children, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. Requests for photos quickly came in from the press and admiration flowed from the public. The Lindberghs were building a house in a remote area near Hopewell New Jersey when the baby was stolen from his bedroom in 1932; the Lindberghs and their staff were inside the house, awake. A ransom note and broken ladder propped against the outside wall were found, and over the next few weeks many letters and tips poured in.
The Lindberghs paid $50,000 in ransom, through contacts, to a man claiming to have information about the baby. 10 weeks after the kidnapping, the body of a toddler was found partially buried in the woods near the Lindbergh home. With no leads, the case went cold. But two years later one of the ransom bills surfaced leading investigators to indict German immigrant Bruno Hauptmann with extortion and murder.
Hauptmann’s trial begin in Jan 1935 and quickly became the Trial of the Century. The ransom go-between, John Condon, identified Hauptmann as the man to whom he paid the ransom and other crucial testimony came from scientists. Hauptmann took the stand and continued to profess his innocence but the jury found him guilty of first degree murder and he was executed at a New Jersey prison in Apr 1936.
In 1938 America's ambassador to Germany hosted a dinner for Lindbergh with Germany's air chief, ex-pilot Hermann Göring, and 3 pivotal figures in German aviation. At this dinner Göring presented Lindbergh with the Commander Cross of the German Eagle. Lindbergh felt very proud. At the urging of US Ambassador to Britain Joseph Kennedy, Lindbergh wrote a memo to the British, warning against any military response by Britain and France to Hitler - France was militarily weak and Britain over-reliant on its navy. He urged that they strengthen their air power to force Hitler to redirect his aggression against Asiatic Communism.
Lindbergh was awarded the Commander Cross of the German Eagle,
He had became famous for his historic, solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic in May 1927 on the Spirit of St Louis. After his flight Lindbergh received public adoration in newspapers, magazines, universities and radio shows. Appropriately Lindbergh was promoted to Colonel in the Air Corps of the Officers Reserve Corps in July 1927. Then he married Anne Morrow (1906-2001) in 1929!
The Charles Lindbergh House and Museum MN presented the terrible information. In Jun 1930 the Lindberghs welcomed the first of six children, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. Requests for photos quickly came in from the press and admiration flowed from the public. The Lindberghs were building a house in a remote area near Hopewell New Jersey when the baby was stolen from his bedroom in 1932; the Lindberghs and their staff were inside the house, awake. A ransom note and broken ladder propped against the outside wall were found, and over the next few weeks many letters and tips poured in.
The Lindberghs paid $50,000 in ransom, through contacts, to a man claiming to have information about the baby. 10 weeks after the kidnapping, the body of a toddler was found partially buried in the woods near the Lindbergh home. With no leads, the case went cold. But two years later one of the ransom bills surfaced leading investigators to indict German immigrant Bruno Hauptmann with extortion and murder.
Hauptmann’s trial begin in Jan 1935 and quickly became the Trial of the Century. The ransom go-between, John Condon, identified Hauptmann as the man to whom he paid the ransom and other crucial testimony came from scientists. Hauptmann took the stand and continued to profess his innocence but the jury found him guilty of first degree murder and he was executed at a New Jersey prison in Apr 1936.
Charles Lindbergh inspecting Luftwaffe aircraft in 1937.
The period had been an agony for the traumatised Lindberghs. To escape the constant, sensational media attention in US, the couple quickly moved abroad, living in Britain then France. A few times between 1936-8 the US government asked Lindbergh to tour the German flying fleet and report back. So he made four visits to Germany to report on the Luftwaffe for the US military, and expressed his admiration for German’s aircraft technology. While the rest of the world seemed to crumble, Germany showed its impressive, organised vitality. He became convinced that no power in Europe could defeat the Luftwaffe.
In 1938 America's ambassador to Germany hosted a dinner for Lindbergh with Germany's air chief, ex-pilot Hermann Göring, and 3 pivotal figures in German aviation. At this dinner Göring presented Lindbergh with the Commander Cross of the German Eagle. Lindbergh felt very proud. At the urging of US Ambassador to Britain Joseph Kennedy, Lindbergh wrote a memo to the British, warning against any military response by Britain and France to Hitler - France was militarily weak and Britain over-reliant on its navy. He urged that they strengthen their air power to force Hitler to redirect his aggression against Asiatic Communism.
1938 
Charles Lindbergh addressed the America First Committee meeting
Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1941.
In 1941, Lindberg strongly recommended that the US negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler, accusing Jewish race of being behind the drive for America to enter WW2. Post-war his popular reputation at home faded somewhat, cast as a Nazi sympathiser
After the outbreak of war in Europe, Lindbergh published an article in 1939, condemning American involvement. But he was not a pacifist… he strongly favoured a war between Germany and Russia! Lindbergh believed that civilisation depended on peace among Western nations, and therefore on united strength. He gave a nationwide radio address in which he called for American isolationism, indicated his pro-German sympathies and made clear anti-Semitic statements about Jewish ownership of the media. In Oct 1939, after the Canadian declaration of war on Germany, Lindbergh made another nationwide radio address criticising Canada for drawing the Western Hemisphere into a European war! The entire continent needed to be free from the dictates of European powers!
This American icon became a spokesman for the nativist and isolationist group, America First Committee, in late 1940. He spoke to excited and packed out crowds in Madison Square Garden and in Chicago's Soldier Field, with millions listening by radio. His basic point was that America had no business attacking Germany. A war with Germany would be bad for the USA… for the white races.
Re Kristallnacht he published a racist essay in Nov 1939, restating that Western nations “can have peace and security only so long as we band together to preserve that most priceless possession, our inheritance of European blood.” He was very concerned that the potentially gigantic power of America, guided by uninformed idealism, might enter Europe to destroy Hitler. Americans had to realise that Hitler's destruction would lay Europe open to the barbarism of Soviet Russia's forces.
This American icon became a spokesman for the nativist and isolationist group, America First Committee, in late 1940. He spoke to excited and packed out crowds in Madison Square Garden and in Chicago's Soldier Field, with millions listening by radio. His basic point was that America had no business attacking Germany. A war with Germany would be bad for the USA… for the white races.
Re Kristallnacht he published a racist essay in Nov 1939, restating that Western nations “can have peace and security only so long as we band together to preserve that most priceless possession, our inheritance of European blood.” He was very concerned that the potentially gigantic power of America, guided by uninformed idealism, might enter Europe to destroy Hitler. Americans had to realise that Hitler's destruction would lay Europe open to the barbarism of Soviet Russia's forces.
Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1941.
In 1941, Lindberg strongly recommended that the US negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler, accusing Jewish race of being behind the drive for America to enter WW2. Post-war his popular reputation at home faded somewhat, cast as a Nazi sympathiser
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21 comments:
Just because a person is a brilliant pilot, film star or sportsman, does not mean he is going to be brilliant in any other area of responsibility. One of the best footballers in this entire country went to prison for spousal abuse. His fans were shocked.
I can never really get to grips with the reason why people are so ready to believe the tropes of antisemitism. If all the banks and media were controlled by Jews, well...so what? Surely thirty seconds of logical thought would tell you that it can't be so! Who are the main media moguls? Rupert Murdoch, the Barclay brothers, Martin Bouygues?
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Deb
that scenario occurred to me when a great singer/dancer, adored by an entire generation of people around the world, turned out to secrete 12 year old boys in his ranch and sexually abused them. Had he stood for President, he probably would have won in a canter :(
bazza
people don't hate blacks, Jews, Russians or any other group from conception. They have to learn hatred from their parents, school, life crises or something that strongly moulds their minds. So where did Charles Jnr's views come from? Certainly his wanting to keep the U.S out of the European war was repeating his father's views (from WW1) word for word.
Lindbergh believed the survival of the white race was more important than the survival of democracy in Europe. Susan Gray's book "Charles A. Lindbergh and the American Dilemma: The Conflict of Technology" was helpful. German philosopher Oswald Spengler was a rightwinger who Lindbergh apparently loved reading. And closer to home was Henry Ford, very well known for his rightwing anti-Semitism.
Hello Hels, What a creep Lindbergh was! He deserved to lose his once glowing reputation. That is a risk when reading about people we admire for their work--in private life they might have been nasty pieces of work. So many previously-admired famous people have been discredited--the age of heroes is truly over!
--Jim
Is there any way of knowing what proportion of the white population supported Lindbergh's racist opinions in 1941?
Parnassus
I suppose if he limited his nastiness to his private life, his friends and family would be the only ones to suffer the consequences. But Lindbergh seems to have been on a nation-wide mission, with giant outdoor and indoor assemblies, newspaper articles, radio speeches, public tours of German air force facilities etc etc. Even when he lost his status at the hands of the President, he pushed on regardless. At least we can admire his dedication to his nasty causes.
Joseph
the Lindbergh House and Museum noted that on his return to the United States, Lindbergh began to actively work for the anti-interventionist cause. At the time, more than 80% of the American public shared his views, opposing any involvement in the European conflict which broke into open warfare when Germany invaded Poland on Sep 1939. https://www.mnhs.org/lindbergh/learn/controversies
They don't say how many supported his view that war with Germany would be bad for the white races. Or that freedom from Jewish influence would make the USA a more democratic nation.
it is a secret preoccupation of mine to listen to people who have opinions and share them publicly and privately and then to imagine if they would have backed the Nazi party in 1932. I suspect that there are many people in public life and in private life who would have at least initially signed up to the party . Germans were not intrinsically evil people . They were pretty average I think but had this misfortune to be ripe fro thee picking by a creep like Hitler . Thee Americans are experiencing the dangers of Trumpism. It seems we are all attracted to hero figures who we want to believe will lead us to a greater future . Its pathetic but very human I suspect .I dont think it will ever go away just as the human need to blame someone else fro pour deficiency wont .
mem
not intrinsically evil, agreed. I saw an excellent tv documentary that explored the influence of the Hitler Youth on German boys in the Nazi era. They were beautiful little boys who just wanted to go camping, play outdoor sport and wear handsome uniforms. But the physical and mental control of the boys became more brutal in their early teens and by 1939, the Hitler Youths had become Hitler fanatics.
The question of ordinary people being attracted to extra-ordinary hero figures is problematic. Everyone wants a greater future but avidly following a human hero is bound to lead to heartbreak. Even Churchill, Einstein, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela were fall-down drunks or unfaithful spouses or racist ideologues.
Not all the Hitler Youth victims were rabid Nazis. I have known a few in my life and mostly they were in it because being at school meant you had to be . In the last days of the war, many of these kids were mopping after bombing raids and were deeply traumatized by what they saw.Early in the war they manned antiaircraft guns. I have seen math exercise books which taught geometry and applied it to the angles needing to be calculated to shoot down aircraft. The person I was close to had an abiding hatred of uniforms and organizations like scouts and brownies for the rest of his life . The total disillusionment which came as the truth of the atrocities came to light led to deep sadness in those brave enough to confront what had happened. His sister was agoraphobic for the rest of her life . All this pales into insignificance when compared to the holocaust but the trauma was still very very real and significant .War creates so many victims and resonates on down the generation . I think its in the bible that it says" the sins of the fathers shall be visited onto the children for 7 generations ." Thats pretty true I think .
Gosh, that is awful to learn. I like mem's comments. You have to get inside heads to understand what terrible things people did.
mem
Not sure about "7" generations but war was appalling for the generation that a] died or b] survived but seriously wounded. And often the war was equally crippling for c] the babies born during or after the war. That second generation paid a very great price for a war they remembered nothing of.
That doesn't explain Charles Lindbergh of course. But it might go a long way in explaining the 1930s generation of young adult Englishmen, Frenchmen, Russians and Germans. Just recently I have been writing a blog post on a group of 1930s British aristocrats and opinion-makers who were also anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-workers and pro-Nazi.
Andrew
people did what they did because either they thought was the right thing to do OR because they feared the consequences if they disobeyed orders from higher authorities.
You will remember when Australian soldiers were tried for murdering civilians in the Boer War, they said they were under strict orders from their British Commanders. When the Australians were executed by the British in 1902, everyone here said our soldiers could never be so immoral.
Helen:
Here is a link to Mrs. Lindbergh’s views on her husband’s statements about the Jews. You might find it interesting.
http://www.charleslindbergh.com/ny/105.asp
Frank D
PS. In the comments to your post you lump Mother Teresa among “fall down drunks, unfaithful spouses, and racists.” Which one was she?
Francis
many thanks for the reference. I am pleased that Charles Lindbergh's widow Anne published her diary from the war years - it was very important for Charles that he had the total backing of a loving wife, especially as he was becoming more isolated from the decision-makers in those years. Anne also noted that she provided her husband with an editorial view before he gave his public speeches, helping him understand which parts would be better modified or excluded.
Read Dr Aroup Chatterjee's 2002 Mother Teresa: The Final Verdict, since republished as Mother Teresa: The Untold Story. You may find the book controversial, but I found it re-affirmed my view that heroes are almost always driven, but flawed human beings.
Clearly some of this information was not shared on whatever brief Historical side trip was taken about Charles Lindbergh while I as in school. Makes him seem a little less heroic.
packy
I think that is true for classes in many countries... the students are spared the true but tough bits of our nations' histories.
But I am delighted to read your post Tiger Woods Instead of Trump (as President). That is exactly what the tv series "The Plot Against America" did re Lindbergh winning the presidency in 1940.
Frankly the only truly racist comments and sentiments i can find here are those of the author and commenters. Apparently you hate every person of european heritage that you're incapable of condemning anyone from your own group but see nothing wrong with supporting extremist views that result in the deaths of millions of other people so long as the victims aren't in your group.
I'll never understand how someone like this can sleep at night without feeling shame of so massive proportions that they ought to suffocate in their anxiety.
Anon
nope. I was born in Australia to European parentage and my husband was born and raised in Europe, until they came to Australia. And I am a pacifist, so would never join an army as an active participant. Fortunately lots of conscientious objectors found other ways to serve their nations in times of violence.
Read Robert Zorn's book Cemetery John: The Undiscovered Mastermind Behind the Lindbergh Kidnapping (2012). Zorn contended that a German immigrant named John Knoll, Cemetery John, was deeply involved in the kidnapping in 1932. Even if Zorn did not have all the details exactly right, it proves that capital punishment is always catastrophic. Bruno Richard Hauptmann, the man who was executed for the murder of the Lindbergh baby, may or may not have been involved.
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