INDEPENDENT DESTINY

In 1939 Charles Lindbergh and his wife returned to America after almost three and a half years in Europe. He wanted to return to Europe as soon as the conflict had settled down but this did not happen. Tensions continued to rise and it began to look like war was imminent. War became a reality when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. England and France responded by declaring war on Germany. Hitler began to speak with other noninterventionist leaders. Many were constantly urging Lindbergh to speak out publicly against the war. Lindbergh had no desire to be a politician or to draw further attention to him. His beliefs outweighed his reservations and he began his fight to keep America out of the war. Lindbergh’s first public broadcast protesting entering the war was on September 15, 1939. Lindbergh’s speech was received with praise and criticism. Lindbergh remained committed speaking out against the war. Lindbergh followed up his speech with four more radio broadcasts, three articles in magazines and two public meetings. Charles also testified before Congress against the Lend Lease bill that would provide aid to Britain. Lindbergh was easily one of the most recognizable public figures that were speaking out against the war. Lindbergh used his observations from living in Europe to paint a very different picture of the war for the American public. Lindbergh did not believe that the war was about the fight for democracy and morality. He saw it in terms of a balance of power between European nations. Lindbergh believed that it was futile for “the white nations” to fight against each other. He believed they needed to come to an agreement on how to share power. Lindbergh continued to tell the American public what he had told the French and the British. Lindbergh reiterated that German air power was superior to any European nation; Germany wanted to expand only to the east, France and England would not be able to beat Germany and that the only solution was to negotiate a settlement or accommodate.

Lindbergh did not see a reason for the United States to enter the war because if we maintained our air power we would not be open to attack. Lindbergh believed that we had superior positioning and that the U.S. could defend ourselves in the Western Hempishpere. Lindbergh did not like the term isolationist. He did not believe the United States needed to totally close itself off from the rest of the world but rather build an “independent destiny for itself”(Cole,58). He defined independent destiny as American soldiers not having to fight everyone that does not agree with how way of life it also meant that Americans would fight anyone that attempted to interfere with our atmosphere. As the war continued to progress Lindbergh realized that he needed support to continue his struggle. In 1940 Lindbergh was still not a member of any organized group that was committed to nonintervention. This changed when he joined the most powerful organization committed to nonintervention, America First.

Back to Main