Dates

• Existence: 1902 February 4 - 1974 August 26

Biographical Note: Charles Lindbergh

Charles A. Lindbergh (1902-1974), nicknamed "Slim," "Lucky Lindy," and "The Lone Eagle," was an American record-setting aviator, author, inventor, military officer, explorer, and social activist. He is most well-known for his 1927 Orteig Prize-winning solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from Roosevelt Field on New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan to Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. and Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh. He grew up on a farm near Little Falls, Minnesota. At the age of 18 years, he entered the University of Wisconsin to study mechanical engineering. However, Lindbergh was more interested in aviation than he was in academics. After two years, he left school to pursue a career as a pilot. He took his first flying lesson in 1922 at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation's flying school. He did not solo until over a year later in 1923 but then quickly started his career as a barnstormer flying a Standard J-1C and using the moniker "Daredevil Lindbergh."

In 1924, Lindbergh enlisted in the United States Army so that he could be trained as an Army Air Service Reserve pilot. He graduated from the Army's flight-training school at Brooks and Kelly fields, near San Antonio, Texas in 1925. After he completed his Army training, the Robertson Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri hired him to fly the mail between St. Louis and Chicago, Illinois.

In 1919, a New York City hotel owner named Raymond Orteig offered $25,000 to the first aviator to fly nonstop from New York to Paris. Several pilots attempted the transatlantic trip but were killed or injured while competing for the prize. By 1927, it had still not been won. Lindbergh believed he could win it if he had the right airplane. He persuaded nine St. Louis-based businessmen to help him finance the cost of a plane. Lindbergh chose Ryan Aeronautical Company of San Diego, California to manufacture a special plane which he helped design. He named the plane the "Spirit of St. Louis."

On May 20, 1927, Lindbergh took off in the "Spirit of St. Louis" from Roosevelt Field, near New York City and he landed at Le Bourget Field, near Paris, on May 21st. He had flown more than 3,600 miles (5,790 kilometers) in 33 1/2 hours. The flight catapulted him into the public eye and he was honored with awards, celebrations, and parades. After his arrival in Paris, Lindbergh was awarded the French Légion d'honneur by the president of France. From France he traveled to Belgium and then the United Kingdom. From England, he took the USS Memphis back to the U.S., arriving on June 11, 1927. Upon his arrival, President Calvin Coolidge gave Lindbergh the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Then, less than two months after his record-setting flight, Lindbergh published his autobiography, We, with G. P. Putnam's Sons. The title referred to him and his plane. Between July 20 and October 23, 1927, Lindbergh undertook a publicity tour visiting more than 80 cities and 48 states, giving 147 speeches, and riding 1,290 miles in parades. Over the winter of 1927-1928, Lindbergh continued touring, this time through Central and South American countries. Following his publicity tours, his plane, "The Spirit of St. Louis," was put on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Lindbergh continued to receive intense public attention. He used his fame to help support various projects and interests. Recalling his early career as an air mail pilot, he promoted air mail service, carrying thousands of pieces of souvenir covers between 1928-1931 so that fans could own a piece of mail flown by him. Outside of his work as an aviator, he also had scientific interests. In 1929 he became helped advocate for pioneering rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard. He also worked with Nobel Prize-winning French surgeon Alexis Carrel studying means to keep organs alive outside the body. He is credited with developing a special pump to keep the heart alive during heart surgery.

On May 27, 1929, Lindbergh married Anne Morrow, whom he had met while touring Mexico, in Englewood, New Jersey. Lindbergh taught Anne how to fly, and she accompanied and assisted him in much of his exploring and charting of air routes. The couple eventually had six children: Charles, Jr. (1930–1932); Jon (1932–2021); Land (1937-); Anne (1940–1993); Scott (1942-); and Reeve (1945-). In 1932 their eldest child was kidnapped and later found dead.

In 1935 Lindbergh moved his family to Europe, partially out of worry for the safety of his family. While he toured German and French aircraft industries. In 1938, Germany's air chief Hermann Göring presented Lindbergh with the Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle. His acceptance of the award became controversial as Nazi attacks on Jews intensified. The Lindberghs returned to the U.S. in 1939. By 1940 Lindbergh's beliefs tended toward isolationism and he became the spokesman of the America First Committee. In the 1940s, anti-Semitic statements and other actions led many to believe he was a Nazi sympathizer. Because of his political stance and public comments, he was blocked from military service during World War II. Friendly with Henry Ford, also known for antisemitism, he worked as an adviser for the Willow Run Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber manufacturing facility and then became a consultant for United Aircraft. By 1944, still working for United Aircraft, he traveled to the Pacific Theater. There, over the course of six months, he flew as a civilian on 50 combat missions.

Post-war, Lindbergh worked as consultant for the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force and to Pan American World Airways. In 1948, he published a book, Of Flight and Life. In 1949, he was awarded the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. He wrote another book in 1953 titled The Spirit of St. Louis about his famous flight and won the Pulitzer Prize for it the following year. In 1953 he was also awarded the Daniel Guggenheim Medal, given to those who have made notable achievements in aeronautics. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower recommended that Lindbergh be commissioned a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. In the 1950s, it was revealed after his death, Lindbergh also began a series of affairs with three German women, fathering multiple other children outside of his marriage.

In 1968 and 1968 he was invited to meet some of the Apollo astronauts and watched the launch of Apollo 11. He and Neil Armstrong became regular correspondents after that. In the 1960s Lindbergh also became interested in environmental conservation, especially in Africa, the Philippines, and Hawaii. In 1971 he received the Philippine Order of the Golden Heart for this work. That same year he and Anne retired to Maui, Hawaii where he supported conservation efforts. Lindbergh received numerous other awards and honors throughout his career.

Charles A. Lindbergh died at his home on August 26, 1974 from lymphoma. He is buried at Palapala Ho'omau Church in Kipahulu, Maui, Hawaii.

Gender

• male

Occupations

• Air pilots

Places

• Detroit (Mich.) (Place of Birth)
• Michigan (Place of Birth)
• Hawaii (Place of Death)
• Germany (Associated Country)

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