Book: "The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh"

[David Megginson]

I borrowed this from the library and read it. It's an interesting take on a brilliant but flawed man, who was clever about aviation,* but once the fame went to his head, thought that meant he was equally clever about everything else, including police investigations, biology/medicine, racial theories, global politics, etc. (he wasn't).

His road back from disgrace — after Pearl Harbor turned the public and the government against him and his very-loud pro-Nazi sentiments — was his technical knowledge, which the military and airlines eventually decided outweighed a messy past.

Good reading, and a cautionary tale about letting one big success go to your head.

https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Charles-Lindbergh/dp/052564654X/

* And lucky: he was falling asleep repeatedly and hallucinating in the dark before he reached Ireland, flying barely above the wave tops, and could easily have hit the water and become another historical footnote.

 

[Llewtrah381]

Thanks - need to check that out.

We do books on tape on long drives and did “The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight” by Winston Groom and thought it was very good. Also, Bill Bryson’s “One Summer: America 1927” was also good and included some of the personas well.

 

[aftCG]

I read a different book about the man. His fall from super rock star level is often represented as pro Nazi but that was (probably) an over reaction to the truth.
He had visited Germany several times in the 1930s, had friends there including famous WW 1 aces and military leaders. He was given tours of military bases and Aircraft manufacturing facilities, saw the Me-109 fly, etc.
This was at a time when Germany was still not allowed to produce war machinery and yet there they were.
He reported as much to the US when he returned and he was very opposed to the idea of getting into a war with them - yes because he cared about German people but also because our own military was ill equipped for the task. And they were. The front line is US military fighters were the P-26 pea shooter and a Grumman biplane.
It wasn't until the later part of WW II that he was able to repair even a fraction of his credibility.

I was surprised to learn that he had fathered several kids with 3 or more women in different countries while still married in the US, and spent time with all of them.

 

[steingar]

I was surprised to learn that he had fathered several kids with 3 or more women in different countries while still married in the US, and spent time with all of them.

Yup, a Nazi sympathizer and a bigamist. Wonderful fellow.

 

[David Megginson]

Yup, a Nazi sympathizer and a bigamist. Wonderful fellow.

And a talented aviator. We shouldn't try to make heroes out of human beings, because we'll always be disappointed.

 

[Dana]

And a talented aviator. We shouldn't try to make heroes out of human beings, because we'll always be disappointed.

“…often they are fine men, enough to be admired, but often enough they are sadly, weakly human, too. Remember this… that it is the work a man does that matters. Many men who have made mistakes in their own lives have created grandly, beautifully. It is this by which we measure a man, by what he does in this life, by what he creates to leave behind.” (Louis L'Amour, Bendigo Shafter)

 

[David Megginson]

“…often they are fine men, enough to be admired, but often enough they are sadly, weakly human, too. Remember this… that it is the work a man does that matters. Many men who have made mistakes in their own lives have created grandly, beautifully. It is this by which we measure a man, by what he does in this life, by what he creates to leave behind.” (Louis L'Amour, Bendigo Shafter)

True, but most people leave a mixed legacy of good and harm.

For example, the person who did the most to win the vote for women in Canada used her first elected position to push for eugenics, including forced sterilization. People are messy, and every idol has feet of clay; best not build idols in the first place, so that they don't end up falling over on us.

 

[Mahneuvers]

“…often they are fine men, enough to be admired, but often enough they are sadly, weakly human, too...

First time I heard the name Eddie Rickenbacker was from my father. My dad told me about it right about the time he quit drinking himself so that might have been the impetus. My father told me of this great man who apparently also had an issue w/ alcohol. My dad worked at Eastern Airlines in the late 50s/early 60s and recounted a story of Rickenbacker having to be pulled out of a water fountain during a company function.

 

[aftCG]

First time I heard the name Eddie Rickenbacker was from my father. My dad told me about it right about the time he quit drinking himself so that might have been the impetus. My father told me of this great man who apparently also had an issue w/ alcohol. My dad worked at Eastern Airlines in the late 50s/early 60s and recounted a story of Rickenbacker having to be pulled out of a water fountain during a company function.

In the face of Rickenbacker's many accomplishments (race car driver, WW I ace of aces, founded Eastern, survived brutal crashes and presumed dead) I'd say he just knew how to party.
And before anyone gets uppity consider the era. Yeager and Hoover were not exactly allergic to alcohol.

 

[MauleSkinner]

In the face of Rickenbacker's many accomplishments (race car driver, WW I ace of aces, founded Eastern, survived brutal crashes and presumed dead) I'd say he just knew how to party.
And before anytime gets uppity consider the era. Yeager and Hoover were not exactly allergic to alcohol.

According to a friend of mine (now passed away), United was the first airline to “sissify” its pilots by not allowing them to drink before a flight. The reg didn’t come along until later.