Charles Lindbergh. The name itself conjures the image of the “Lone Eagle,” the dashing young aviator who, in 1927, braved the vast emptiness of the Atlantic Ocean alone and became an instant global hero. He was a symbol of American courage, ingenuity, and the limitless potential of the modern age.

Behind the global adulation, however, was a man of jarring contradictions: a pioneering medical inventor who became an apologist for Nazi Germany; a fierce advocate for privacy who secretly managed multiple families; and an icon of progress who ultimately championed nature over the machine. Here are five facts that reveal the complicated man behind the myth.

1. He Helped Invent a Device That Paved the Way for Open-Heart Surgery

Long before he was known for his controversial politics, Charles Lindbergh was a dedicated scientific inventor. In the 1930s, driven by his sister-in-law’s fatal heart condition, he began a collaboration with Nobel Prize-winning surgeon Alexis Carrel at the Rockefeller Institute. Together, they sought a way to keep organs alive outside the body, a crucial step for any potential surgical repairs.

Their invention was the glass perfusion pump, also known as the “Model T” pump. This remarkable device could circulate a sterile nutrient fluid through an organ, keeping it viable for days. Their work was a serious scientific endeavor, culminating in the co-authored 1938 book, The Culture of Organs. While a true artificial heart was still decades away, Lindbergh and Carrel’s pump is credited with making future heart surgeries and organ transplantation possible. This quiet, life-saving work reveals a completely different side of Lindbergh, far from the cockpit of a plane.

2. He Became a Leading Voice for Isolationism and a Nazi Sympathizer

As World War II loomed, Lindbergh’s heroic reputation began to crumble. He became a prominent spokesman for the America First Committee, an influential group that argued for the United States to remain out of the war in Europe. His actions and statements during this period were deeply controversial.

In 1938, Hermann Göring presented Lindbergh with the Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle on behalf of Adolf Hitler. Lindbergh’s acceptance of the medal, and his refusal to return it even after the horrific Kristallnacht pogrom just weeks later, transformed a diplomatic blunder into a morally indefensible decision. His position was cemented in a September 11, 1941 speech in Des Moines, where he accused “the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt Administration” of “pressing this country toward war.” The speech ignited a firestorm of condemnation from politicians, clergy, and newspapers across the nation, who denounced his remarks as antisemitic. President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly called him a “defeatist and appeaser,” which prompted Lindbergh to resign his military commission. His private writings bluntly articulated a worldview centered on racial purity:

We can have peace and security only so long as we band together to preserve that most priceless possession, our inheritance of European blood, only so long as we guard ourselves against attack by foreign armies and dilution by foreign races.

3. He Secretly Fathered Seven Children with Three Different Women in Europe

For a man who fiercely guarded his privacy, Charles Lindbergh lived an astonishingly elaborate and deceptive double life. Just as he compartmentalized his public heroism from his private politics, Lindbergh constructed an entirely separate domestic existence. Beginning in 1957 and continuing for the rest of his life, while still married to his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, he orchestrated a secret life, fathering seven children with three separate women in Europe.

He fathered three children with German hatmaker Brigitte Hesshaimer, two children with her sister Mariette, and two more with his European private secretary, Valeska. The secrecy was absolute. The seven children grew up knowing him only by the alias “Careu Kent” during his brief, infrequent visits and had no idea of their father’s true identity. The truth only came to light years after his death, confirmed by DNA tests in 2003. Ten days before he died, Lindbergh wrote to each of his European mistresses, imploring them to maintain the utmost secrecy about his activities even after his death.

4. He Flew 50 Combat Missions in World War II—As a Civilian

Here lies one of the great paradoxes of Lindbergh’s life. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt administration blocked him from rejoining the military due to his pre-war isolationism. Undeterred, Lindbergh went to the Pacific Theater in 1944 as a civilian technical consultant for United Aircraft.

He was there to study aircraft performance, but he ended up flying 50 combat missions. He demonstrated to Marine pilots how their Vought F4U Corsair fighters could take off with double the rated bomb load. He also taught P-38 Lightning pilots engine-leaning techniques that dramatically improved their fuel consumption and extended their mission range, a crucial advantage in the vast Pacific. On July 28, 1944, during a bomber escort mission, he was unofficially credited with shooting down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-51 “Sonia” observation plane. The irony was profound: the nation’s most famous isolationist actively and bravely participated in the war he had so vehemently argued against.

5. The Great Aviator Became an Environmentalist Who Chose “Birds Over Airplanes”

In the final chapter of his life, the man who had once been the ultimate symbol of technological progress underwent another profound transformation. Lindbergh became a passionate and dedicated environmentalist, deeply concerned about the impact of modern technology on the natural world.

He campaigned vigorously to protect endangered species, including the humpback whale and the Philippine eagle. He was instrumental in helping establish Haleakalā National Park in Hawaii and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. He also advocated for the protection of tribal peoples, including the Tasaday and Agta in the Philippines and the Maasai in Africa. The depth of this change was captured in a 1964 Reader’s Digest essay, where he reflected on his new priorities.

…that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes.

This final, surprising turn showed the ultimate technologist championing the natural world against the very kind of progress he had once embodied.

A Complicated Legacy

Charles Lindbergh was never the simple hero history first made him out to be. He was a man of staggering, often troubling, contradictions: the aviator-hero who was also a Nazi sympathizer; the pioneering medical inventor who was also a secret polygamist; the fierce isolationist who flew combat missions; and the technological icon who became a passionate environmentalist. His life forces us to confront uncomfortable questions. How do we reconcile the legacy of a man who could simultaneously represent the best of human achievement and some of its most troubling ideologies?

Charles Lindbergh: A Comprehensive Briefing

Executive Summary

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902–1974) was a seminal figure in 20th-century American history, whose life encompassed both extraordinary heroism and profound controversy. He first achieved global fame in 1927 by completing the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, a feat that revolutionized the aviation industry and made him an international icon. This achievement, however, was later overshadowed by personal tragedy with the kidnapping and murder of his infant son, and by his deeply divisive political activities.

In the years preceding World War II, Lindbergh became the most prominent spokesperson for the isolationist America First Committee. His public speeches and writings, which included statements widely condemned as antisemitic and sympathetic to Nazi Germany, severely damaged his public reputation. He resigned his military commission after being publicly rebuked by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he supported the U.S. war effort but was denied a reinstated commission; he subsequently served as a civilian consultant in the Pacific Theater, flying 50 combat missions.

In his later years, Lindbergh re-emerged as a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a consultant to the U.S. Air Force (in which his commission was restored and he was promoted to Brigadier General), and a dedicated environmentalist. He championed conservation causes, working to protect endangered species and tribal peoples. A deeply private man, his complex legacy was further complicated after his death by the revelation that he had maintained a double life, fathering seven children with three German women while married to Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

Early Life and Aviation Career

Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 4, 1902, and spent his youth primarily in Little Falls, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C. His father, Charles August Lindbergh, was a U.S. Congressman who notably opposed America’s entry into World War I. Lindbergh exhibited an early fascination with mechanics, which later extended to aviation.

• Education and Initial Training: After enrolling in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1920, he dropped out during his sophomore year to pursue flying. In 1922, he enrolled in the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation’s flying school and took his first flight on April 9.
• Barnstorming: Unable to afford the bond for solo flight, Lindbergh gained experience as a wing walker and parachutist, barnstorming across several states. In May 1923, he purchased a surplus Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane for $500 and made his first solo flight. He spent the rest of the year barnstorming under the name “Daredevil Lindbergh.”
• Military Service: In March 1924, Lindbergh began a year of military flight training with the U.S. Army Air Service. He graduated first in his class of 18 (from an initial 104 cadets) in March 1925, earning his Army pilot’s wings and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Service Reserve Corps.
• Air Mail Pilot: In October 1925, he was hired as the chief pilot for the Contract Air Mail Route #2 (CAM-2) between St. Louis and Chicago. It was during this period, which he considered more hazardous than a transatlantic flight, that the inspiration for his historic journey took hold. His experiences included two instances where he was forced to bail out of his aircraft due to weather and equipment failure.

The 1927 Transatlantic Flight: A Turning Point

Lindbergh’s flight from New York to Paris was a defining moment in aviation history, transforming him from an obscure air mail pilot into one of the most famous people on the planet.

The Orteig Prize and the Spirit of St. Louis

The flight was inspired by the $25,000 Orteig Prize, offered by New York hotelier Raymond Orteig for the first nonstop flight between New York and Paris. Several well-funded teams had failed in their attempts, some with fatal consequences.

• Financing and Construction: With only $2,000 of his own money, Lindbergh secured a $15,000 bank loan with the help of St. Louis businessmen. The Ryan Airline Company of San Diego agreed to build a custom monoplane for $10,580.
• The Aircraft: The single-seat, single-engine aircraft, named the Spirit of St. Louis, was designed jointly by Lindbergh and Ryan’s chief engineer, Donald A. Hall. It was built in just two months.

The Flight: A Detailed Account

Lindbergh took off from a muddy Roosevelt Field on Long Island at 7:52 AM on May 20, 1927. His aircraft, weighing 5,200 pounds, was heavily laden with 450 gallons of fuel and cleared telephone lines by a mere 20 feet.

Time (EDT)	Elapsed Time	Event / Milestone
May 20
7:52 AM	0h 0m	Took off from Roosevelt Field, New York.
7:15 PM	11h 23m	Passed over St. John’s, Newfoundland, and headed out over the Atlantic.
8:00 PM	12h 8m	Night fell; climbed to 10,000 feet to avoid fog and icing conditions.
11:52 PM	16h 0m	Approximately 500 miles from Newfoundland, in warmer air.
May 21
1:52 AM	18h 0m	Halfway to Paris.
4:52 AM	21h 0m	Began to hallucinate from exhaustion.
9:52 AM	26h 0m	Spotted fishing boats, signaling the European coast. Landfall at Dingle Bay, Ireland.
2:52 PM	31h 0m	Flew over Cherbourg, France.
5:22 PM	33h 30m	Landed at Le Bourget Aerodrome near Paris.

The flight covered 3,600 miles in 33.5 hours. Lindbergh navigated solely by dead reckoning, battling ice, fog, and extreme fatigue.

The Aftermath: Global Fame and “Lindbergh Boom”

Upon landing, Lindbergh was mobbed by a crowd estimated at 150,000, who carried him on their shoulders and stripped souvenirs from his plane.

• Immediate Acclaim: The New York Times ran the headline “Lindbergh Does It!” He received unprecedented global adulation, with biographer A. Scott Berg noting people behaved “as though Lindbergh had walked on water, not flown over it.”
• Honors and Awards: He was awarded the French Légion d’honneur, the British Air Force Cross by King George V, and upon his return to the U.S., the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Medal of Honor from President Calvin Coolidge. Time magazine named him its first “Man of the Year.”
• Promotion of Aviation: His flight created a “Lindbergh boom.” Within six months, air mail volume increased by 50%, pilot license applications tripled, and the number of aircraft quadrupled. He undertook extensive tours across the United States and Latin America to promote aviation and air mail services.
• Autobiography: His book “WE”, published just two months after the flight, sold over 650,000 copies in its first year.

Personal Life and Family Tragedies

Marriage and Family

In 1929, Lindbergh married Anne Morrow, the daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow. Anne became a licensed pilot and glider pilot and accompanied him on many exploratory flights. They had six children: Charles Jr., Jon, Land, Anne, Scott, and Reeve. Lindbergh was known to be a strict and often absent father.

The “Crime of the Century”

On March 1, 1932, the Lindberghs’ 20-month-old son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped from their home in New Jersey. The case became a media sensation.

• A $50,000 ransom was paid, but the child was not returned.
• On May 12, 1932, the baby’s remains were discovered near the family home.
• The event led to the passage of the “Lindbergh Law,” making kidnapping a federal crime if a victim is taken across state lines.
• German immigrant Richard Hauptmann was convicted of the crime and executed in 1936, though his guilt is still contested by some.

The intense public hysteria surrounding the case drove the Lindbergh family to move to Europe in December 1935, where they lived until April 1939.

Secret German Families

After his death, it was revealed that Lindbergh had led a double life starting in 1957. He maintained long-term relationships with three German women and fathered seven children with them:

• Three children with hatmaker Brigitte Hesshaimer.
• Two children with her sister, Mariette Hesshaimer.
• Two children with Valeska, his European private secretary.

The children were unaware of their father’s true identity until years after his death, knowing him only by the alias Careu Kent. The relationships were confirmed by DNA tests in 2003.

Scientific Pursuits and Inventions

Beyond aviation, Lindbergh had a keen interest in science and technology.

• Rocketry: He became a key advocate for rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard, helping him secure funding from the Guggenheim family in 1930 to advance his research.
• Perfusion Pump: Motivated by his sister-in-law’s fatal heart condition, Lindbergh collaborated with Nobel Prize-winning surgeon Alexis Carrel to invent a glass perfusion pump. This device, which could keep organs alive outside the body, is credited with making future heart surgeries and organ transplants possible.
• “Hour Angle” Watch: He designed a pilot’s watch with the Longines company to simplify air navigation. The “Lindbergh Hour Angle watch,” first produced in 1931, remains in production.

Pre-War Political Activism and Controversy

In the late 1930s, Lindbergh became a deeply controversial political figure due to his non-interventionist stance and his associations with Nazi Germany.

Visits to Nazi Germany

At the request of the U.S. military, Lindbergh made several trips to Germany between 1936 and 1938 to evaluate the Luftwaffe. He was impressed by German air power and technology.

• In October 1938, at a dinner hosted by the American ambassador, Hermann Göring presented Lindbergh with the Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle. Lindbergh’s acceptance of the medal, particularly after the Kristallnacht pogrom occurred just weeks later, drew widespread condemnation. He refused to return it, stating it would be an “unnecessary insult.”

Isolationism and the America First Committee

Lindbergh became the leading spokesman for the America First Committee, an influential isolationist group that opposed U.S. involvement in World War II.

• He argued that a strong defense would make America an “impenetrable fortress” and that the U.S. should not be drawn into a European conflict.
• President Roosevelt publicly denounced him as a “defeatist and appeaser,” leading Lindbergh to resign his colonel’s commission in the Army Air Corps Reserve in April 1941.

Accusations of Antisemitism and Views on Race

Lindbergh’s speeches and writings contained statements that were widely viewed as antisemitic and reflected his belief in eugenics and racial hierarchy.

• Des Moines Speech (September 11, 1941): In his most infamous speech, he identified “the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt Administration” as the three groups “pressing this country toward war.” He claimed American Jews had outsized control over media and government, employing what the source calls “recognizably antisemitic tropes.”
• Racial Views: He expressed a belief in the superiority of the “European race” and the importance of preserving “our inheritance of European blood.” A 1939 Reader’s Digest article by him stated: “Racial strength is vital; politics, a luxury.” He considered Russia a “semi-Asiatic” country and worried about “dilution by foreign races.”

While he condemned the “persecution of the Jewish race in Germany,” his public statements and private writings cemented a reputation as a Nazi sympathizer, an assessment shared by President Roosevelt, who told his Treasury Secretary, “I am absolutely convinced Lindbergh is a Nazi.”

World War II Service

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lindbergh supported the American war effort, but Roosevelt refused to restore his military commission.

• Civilian Consultant: He worked as a technical adviser for the Ford Motor Company on B-24 bomber production and later for United Aircraft.
• Combat Missions: In 1944, he went to the Pacific Theater as a civilian representative for United Aircraft. He flew 50 combat missions with Marine and Army Air Force units. He is unofficially credited with shooting down one Japanese aircraft on July 28, 1944.
• Technical Innovations: He developed engine-leaning techniques for P-38 Lightning pilots that significantly extended the fighter’s range.

Later Life: Environmentalism and Legacy

After the war, Lindbergh largely retreated from public life but remained active as a consultant and writer. His worldview shifted dramatically toward environmentalism and a critique of unchecked technological progress.

• Post-War Service: In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower restored his commission and promoted him to Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He served on an advisory panel that recommended the site for the U.S. Air Force Academy.
• Literary Achievement: He won the 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his book The Spirit of St. Louis.
• Shift to Conservation: In his later years, he became a passionate advocate for environmental causes. He campaigned to protect endangered species like the humpback whale, the Philippine eagle, and the tamaraw. He was instrumental in establishing Haleakalā National Park in Hawaii and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.
• Philosophical Views: He wrote extensively on the conflict between technology and nature, arguing that “all the achievements of mankind have value only to the extent that they preserve and improve the quality of life.” In a 1964 essay, he wrote, “if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes.”

Final Years and Death

Lindbergh spent his final years at his rustic home in Kipahulu, on the Hawaiian island of Maui. He died of lymphoma on August 26, 1974, at the age of 72. He was buried on the grounds of the Palapala Ho’omau Church, in a grave he helped design.

Study Guide: Charles A. Lindbergh

Short-Answer Quiz

Answer each of the following questions in two to three complete sentences, drawing upon the provided source material.

1. What was the Orteig Prize, and how did it influence Charles Lindbergh’s decision to attempt his famous flight?
2. Describe the key challenges Lindbergh faced during his 33.5-hour solo transatlantic flight in May 1927.
3. How was Lindbergh received in Europe and the United States immediately following his landing in Paris?
4. Explain the “Crime of the Century” and the major legal consequence that resulted from it.
5. What was the America First Committee, and what was Lindbergh’s role within the organization?
6. Describe Lindbergh’s activities in Germany during the 1930s and the controversy surrounding the medal he received there.
7. How did Lindbergh, a civilian, contribute to the American war effort during World War II?
8. Beyond his aviation career, what was Lindbergh’s most significant scientific collaboration and invention?
9. Summarize the significant shift in Lindbergh’s focus and activism during his later life.
10. What was the “Lindbergh Boom” and what specific effects did it have on the aviation industry?

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Answer Key

1. The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 award offered by French-born New York hotelier Raymond Orteig for the first successful nonstop transatlantic flight between New York City and Paris. After René Fonck’s failed attempt in 1926, Lindbergh was inspired to compete, believing that a nonstop flight would be less hazardous than his work flying mail. He gathered financial backing from St. Louis businessmen to fund the construction of his aircraft for the attempt.
2. During his flight, Lindbergh battled significant challenges, including icing on the aircraft, which forced him to turn back from a thunderhead. He also flew blind through fog for several hours and navigated solely by dead reckoning, as he was not proficient with celestial navigation and had rejected radio gear. Furthermore, he struggled with extreme fatigue and sleep deprivation, experiencing hallucinations and repeatedly falling asleep for seconds or minutes at a time.
3. Lindbergh received unprecedented global acclaim. Upon landing at Le Bourget Aerodrome, he was mobbed by a crowd estimated at 150,000 people. French President Gaston Doumergue awarded him the Légion d’honneur, and he was similarly celebrated in Belgium and Britain, receiving the Order of Leopold and the British Air Force Cross. Upon his return to the U.S., he was escorted by warships, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Medal of Honor by President Calvin Coolidge, and celebrated with a massive ticker-tape parade in New York City.
4. The “Crime of the Century” refers to the March 1, 1932, kidnapping and subsequent murder of Lindbergh’s 20-month-old son, Charles Jr., from the family’s New Jersey home. The case prompted the U.S. Congress to pass the “Lindbergh Law,” which made kidnapping a federal offense if the victim is taken across state lines or if the kidnapper uses interstate commerce (like the mail) in the commission of the crime.
5. The America First Committee was an isolationist organization that opposed American entry into World War II. In late 1940, Lindbergh became its most prominent spokesman, arguing emphatically that America should not get involved in the European conflict. He delivered speeches to large crowds, including a controversial 1941 address in Des Moines where he accused the British, the Jewish people, and the Roosevelt administration of pushing the country toward war.
6. At the request of the U.S. military, Lindbergh visited Germany several times between 1936 and 1938 to evaluate its aviation capabilities, and he was impressed by German technology. During a 1938 dinner hosted by the American ambassador, Hermann Göring presented Lindbergh with the Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle. His acceptance of the medal became highly controversial, especially after the Kristallnacht pogrom occurred just weeks later, and he declined to return it, believing it would be an “unnecessary insult.”
7. After being blocked from rejoining the military by the Roosevelt administration, Lindbergh served as a civilian consultant for Ford and United Aircraft. In 1944, he went to the Pacific Theater as a technical representative, where he flew 50 combat missions. He developed engine-leaning techniques that greatly improved the fuel efficiency and range of P-38 Lightning fighters and is unofficially credited with shooting down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-51 “Sonia” observation plane.
8. Lindbergh’s most significant scientific work was his collaboration with Nobel Prize-winning French surgeon Alexis Carrel on the perfusion of organs outside the body. Motivated by his sister-in-law’s fatal heart condition, Lindbergh invented a glass perfusion pump, known as the “Model T” pump. This device is credited with making future heart surgeries and organ transplantation possible and was a precursor to the heart-lung machine.
9. In his later years, Lindbergh became a passionate environmentalist and conservationist, deeply concerned with the negative impacts of technology on the natural world. He campaigned to protect endangered species like the humpback whale and the Philippine eagle, and he was instrumental in establishing protections for tribal peoples like the Tasaday in the Philippines and the Maasai in Africa. He also helped establish Haleakalā National Park in Hawaii and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.
10. The “Lindbergh Boom” was the surge in public interest and investment in aviation following his 1927 flight. Within six months, the volume of air mail increased by 50 percent, applications for pilot’s licenses tripled, and the number of airplanes in the country quadrupled. The phenomenon revolutionized commercial aviation and air mail, as Wall Street investors suddenly became eager to fund the burgeoning industry.

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Essay Questions

1. Analyze the complex and often contradictory aspects of Charles Lindbergh’s character. Discuss how he could be simultaneously a meticulous and goal-oriented aviator, an intensely private family man, a controversial political figure with antisemitic and eugenicist views, and a dedicated environmentalist.
2. Trace the evolution of Lindbergh’s relationship with technology throughout his life. How did his views shift from pioneering aviation and inventing medical devices to his later concerns about the “dangers of scientific materialism” and his preference for “birds than airplanes”?
3. Evaluate the impact of the Lindbergh kidnapping on both his personal life and American society. How did the intense media scrutiny and public hysteria surrounding the “Crime of the Century” shape his subsequent decisions and public persona?
4. Examine Lindbergh’s role as a political activist in the lead-up to World War II. Discuss his motivations for joining the America First Committee, the specific arguments he made for isolationism, and the reasons his speeches and associations were widely condemned.
5. Discuss the duality of Lindbergh’s legacy. How did his heroic achievements in aviation, which made him the first Time “Man of the Year,” coexist with his controversial political stances and the later revelations of his secret families in Europe?

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Glossary

Term	Definition
Alexis Carrel	A Nobel Prize-winning French surgeon with whom Lindbergh collaborated at the Rockefeller Institute to study the perfusion of organs and invent the perfusion pump.
America First Committee	An isolationist political group active before the U.S. entry into WWII. Lindbergh became its most prominent spokesman in 1940, arguing against American intervention in the war.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh	Daughter of U.S. Ambassador Dwight Morrow, whom Lindbergh met in Mexico. She became his wife, an accomplished aviator and glider pilot herself, and the mother of six of his children.
Barnstorming	A form of early aviation entertainment where pilots performed stunts. Lindbergh engaged in barnstorming as a wing walker, parachutist, and pilot under the name “Daredevil Lindbergh” to gain flight experience.
Brigitte Hesshaimer	A German hatmaker with whom Lindbergh had a long-term sexual relationship and fathered three children while married to Anne Morrow.
Contract Air Mail Route #2 (CAM-2)	A 278-mile air mail route between St. Louis and Chicago for which Lindbergh served as chief pilot starting in 1925.
Crime of the Century	The media’s name for the 1932 kidnapping and murder of Lindbergh’s 20-month-old son, Charles Jr.
Distinguished Flying Cross	A high U.S. military award presented to Lindbergh by President Calvin Coolidge on June 11, 1927, for his transatlantic flight.
Good Will Tour	A tour of 16 Latin American countries undertaken by Lindbergh from December 1927 to February 1928 to promote aviation and international relations.
Hermann Göring	The air chief of Nazi Germany who, on behalf of Adolf Hitler, presented Lindbergh with the Order of the German Eagle in 1938.
Kristallnacht	A nationwide anti-Jewish pogrom carried out by the Nazi Party in 1938, which occurred only a few weeks after Lindbergh accepted a medal from Hermann Göring, making his acceptance highly controversial.
Le Bourget Aerodrome	The airfield approximately 7 miles outside Paris where Lindbergh landed on May 21, 1927, completing his solo transatlantic flight.
Légion d’honneur	The highest French order of merit, bestowed upon Lindbergh by French President Gaston Doumergue the day after his historic flight.
Lindbergh Boom	The name given to the massive surge in public interest and investment in aviation following Lindbergh’s 1927 flight, leading to a rapid increase in air mail volume, pilot licenses, and aircraft production.
Lindbergh Law	A federal law passed in response to the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr., making it a federal crime to take a victim across state lines.
Lucky Lindy / Lone Eagle	Popular nicknames given to Charles Lindbergh by the press and public following his 1927 flight.
Medal of Honor	The highest U.S. military award, awarded to Lindbergh by a Special Act of Congress in December 1927 and presented by President Coolidge in March 1928 for his flight.
Order of the German Eagle	A decoration presented to Lindbergh by Hermann Göring in 1938. Lindbergh’s controversial acceptance and refusal to return it solidified public perception of him as a Nazi sympathizer.
Orteig Prize	A $25,000 award offered for the first nonstop flight between New York and Paris. Lindbergh’s successful 1927 flight won him this prize.
Palapala Ho’omau Church	The historic church in Kipahulu, Maui, where Lindbergh was buried in 1974 after spending his final years on the island.
Perfusion Pump	A glass medical device invented by Lindbergh in collaboration with Dr. Alexis Carrel, designed to sustain organs outside the body. It is credited with making future heart surgeries and organ transplants possible.
Richard Hauptmann	A German immigrant carpenter who was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. He was executed in 1936.
Spirit of St. Louis	The custom-built, single-engine, high-wing monoplane designed jointly by Lindbergh and Ryan Airline Company’s chief engineer, which Lindbergh flew on his solo transatlantic flight.
Tasaday	An indigenous people in the Philippines whom Lindbergh worked to protect in his later life as part of his environmental and tribal advocacy.
“WE”	Lindbergh’s first autobiography, published just two months after his transatlantic flight, detailing his life and the journey. The title referred to the partnership between Lindbergh and his financial backers, though the public believed it meant him and his plane.