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The crime and investigation were perhaps the most infamous of the time.  The Lindbergh's left the country and settled in France. In his later years, Lindbergh lived in self-induced obscurity at his home in Hana, [[Hawaii]] where he died of [[Cancer]] August 26, 1974.

The crime and investigation were perhaps the most infamous of the time.  The Lindbergh's left the country and settled in France. In his later years, Lindbergh lived in self-induced obscurity at his home in Hana, [[Hawaii]] where he died of [[Cancer]] August 26, 1974.

==Germany ==

==Germany and Hitler==

Lindbergh visited Germany in 1938 on a mission for the U.S. Air Corps. he studied and was impressed by the "Luftwaffe", the German air force, warning Americans it had the best equipment in the world. He accepted a medal from [[Hermann Goering]] for his services to aviation. He attracted criticism and some regarded him as a [[Nazi]] sympathizer, a charge he strongly denied and which historians generally reject. Lindbergh strongly opposed U.S. entry into the [[Second World War]], and suggested that if the U.S. did enter, it should be on the side of Germany.

 

Lindbergh elucidated his beliefs about the [[White people|white race]] in an article he published in ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' in 1939:

 

 

Because of his trips to [[Nazi Germany]], combined with a belief in [[eugenics]], Lindbergh was suspected of being a Nazi sympathizer.

 

Lindbergh's reaction to [[Kristallnacht]] was entrusted to his diary: "I do not understand these riots on the part of the Germans", he wrote. "It seems so contrary to their sense of order and intelligence. They have undoubtedly had a difficult '[[Jewish question|Jewish problem]],' but why is it necessary to handle it so unreasonably?"<ref>Wallace 2005, p. 193.</ref>

 

In his diaries, he wrote: “We must limit to a reasonable amount the Jewish influence...Whenever the Jewish percentage of total population becomes too high, a reaction seems to invariably occur. It is too bad because a few Jews of the right type are, I believe, an asset to any country.”

 

Lindbergh's [[anti-communism]] resonated deeply with many Americans while [[eugenics]] and [[Nordic race|Nordicism]] enjoyed social acceptance,<ref name="Rosen"/> with enthusiasts such as [[Theodore Roosevelt]],<ref>[http://personal.uncc.edu/jmarks/eugenics/eugenics.html "Eugenics – Breeding a Better Citizenry Through Science."]</ref> and [[George S. Patton]].<ref>[http://www.pattonhq.com/unknown/chap13.html Patton's Quotes]</ref>

 

Although Lindbergh considered Hitler a fanatic and avowed a belief in American democracy,<ref>Lindbergh, Charles A. [http://www.charleslindbergh.com/pdf/speech7.pdf "Election Promises Should Be Kept: We Lack Leadership That Places America First."], May 23, 1941.</ref> he clearly stated elsewhere that he believed the survival of the white race was more important than the survival of democracy in Europe: "Our bond with Europe is one of race and not of political ideology", he declared.<ref>[http://www.charleslindbergh.com/americanfirst/speech3.asp Two Historic Speeches October 13, 1939 & August 4, 1940]</ref> He had, however, a relatively positive attitude toward blacks (something that was scheduled to be fully revealed in an undelivered speech interrupted by the events that followed the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]<ref>Lindbergh, Charles A. [http://www.charleslindbergh.com/pdf/dec121941.pdf "What Do We Mean by Democracy and Freedom?"]</ref>). Critics have noticed an apparent influence of German philosopher [[Oswald Spengler]] on Lindbergh.<ref name="Eagle to Earth">[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772983,00.html "Eagle to Earth."] ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', January 12, 1942.</ref> Spengler was a conservative [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] and during the [[Interwar period|interwar era]], was widely read throughout [[Western World]], though by this point he had fallen out of favor with the Nazis because he had not wholly subscribed to their theories of racial purity.

 

Lindbergh developed a long-term friendship with the automobile pioneer [[Henry Ford]], who was well-known for his [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] newspaper ''[[The Dearborn Independent]]''. In a famous comment about Lindbergh to Detroit's former FBI field office special agent in charge in July 1940, Ford said: "When Charles comes out here, we only talk about the Jews."<ref>Collier and Horowitz 1987, pp. 205 and note, p. 457. The citation is from the FBI file of Harry Bennett.</ref><ref>[http://www.forward.com/article/4269/ Forward: Fantasies of a Fascist America]</ref>

 

Lindbergh considered Russia to be a "semi-Asiatic" country compared to Germany, and he found [[Communism]] to be an ideology that would destroy the West's "racial strength" and replace everyone of European descent with "a pressing sea of Yellow, Black, and Brown." He openly stated, if he had to choose, he would rather see America allied with Nazi Germany than Soviet Russia. He preferred [[Nordics]], but he believed, after Soviet Communism was defeated, Russia would be a valuable ally against potential aggression from [[East Asia]].<ref name="Eagle to Earth"/><ref name="preface">MacDonald, Kevin. [http://www.csulb.edu/~kmacd/books-Preface.html "The Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements."]</ref>

 

 

In [[Pat Buchanan]]'s book entitled ''A Republic, Not An Empire: Reclaiming America's Destiny'', he portrays Lindbergh and other pre-war isolationists as American patriots who were smeared by interventionists during the months leading up to Pearl Harbor. Buchanan suggests the backlash against Lindbergh highlights "the explosiveness of mixing ethnic politics with foreign policy."<ref>Buchanan, Pat. [http://www.buchanan.org/pma-99-1012-foxmanwpost.html "Buchanan's Response to Abe Foxman's Attack."] ''[[Washington Post]]'', October 12,

 

[[Image:Spirit-stlouis.jpg|thumb|370px|The Spirit of St. Louis]]

[[Image:Spirit-stlouis.jpg|thumb|370px|The Spirit of St. Louis]]