Lindbergh

Lindbergh is a surname most widely associated with Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902–1974), an American aviator whose 1927 solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic catapulted him to international prominence. He piloted the Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris, a milestone in aviation that earned him the Medal of Honor and public honors for pioneering longer-distance air travel.

Lindbergh married Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and the couple’s son, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., was born in 1930. In 1932, the kidnapping and murder of his infant son became a defining public case, prompting the passage of the Federal Kidnapping Act, commonly known as the Lindbergh Law, to authorize federal intervention in child-n kidnapping cases across state lines. Bruno Hauptmann was convicted for the crime in 1932, in a case that remained controversial for decades.

In the later years, Lindbergh was a prominent advocate for aviation and, at times, a controversial figure in American political life. He supported American isolationism in the pre–World War II era and was associated with public figures and organizations promoting non-interventionist policies, a stance that drew sharp criticism for nationalist and antisemitic elements attributed to some of his views and writings.

Lindbergh died in 1974 in Hawaii. The surname remains closely linked to his achievements in aviation, to the high-profile kidnapping case that shaped U.S. law, and to his complex and debated role in mid-20th-century public discourse.