INTRODUCTION
December 7, 1941 marked the end of the Isolationist effort in the United States. The attack on Pearl Harbor promptly ended America’s foreign policy of trying not to become entangled in Europe’s War. The attack on America soil by Japanese forces outraged the American public. People wanted justice and saw entering WWII as the only solution. The battle over entering the war was between interventionists and isolationists. Both groups had advocates from both sides of the political spectrum, left and right. The interventionists believed that it was more important to assure a British victory than to stay out of the war. The isolationists believed that it was more important to stay out of the war no matter who was in trouble. They believed that the United States could successfully defend itself if it kept its focus on maintaining its own military forces. The interventionists defeated the isolationists when we declared war on Japan and then Germany. The end of American isolationism was a defeat to one of its greatest and best known supporters Colonel Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh was one of the most revered but also most criticized noninterventionists in the United States. He had spent the two years prior to Pearl Harbor speaking out against the United States entering into what he saw as a fight that was not ours and one that we could not win. He went from being America ’s hero to a villain for speaking out against entering the war. He was labeled a Nazi and crucified for being un-American. Lindbergh is often misunderstood. His reasons for not wanting to enter the war were not black and white. This paper will examine the various reasons why Lindbergh was opposed to the war and the effect that he had on American’s beliefs about the war.

Map of Lindbergh's transatlantic flight

Back to Main