Time Magazine's First Man of the Year

People have always dreamt of flying (consider Icarus). As most know, the first man to actually “fly” in a powered, heavier than air contraption, was Orville Wright in December 1903. It lasted 12 seconds, covered 120 feet and didn’t even reach a speed of  7 m.p.h. A little over 20 years later, in April 1924, eight US Army Air Pilots (the Airforce wasn’t founded until 1947)  circumnavigated the globe. However, it took them 175 days and covered about 27,550 miles. 

And three years after that, Charles Lindberg made his solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris in 1927. It was also the longest flight ever. And one year later Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic in a plane. According to Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Earhart was actually a passenger and the plane was flown by two men. Still, that made her famous and she made plans to eventually circumnavigate the globe.

His accomplishments and the “Lindberg Boom” which was the interest in air travel, pilot training, commerce, and potential for air globalization, prompted Time Magazine to name him their very first “Man of the Year” in 1927. But there’s a sad side to his story that we all know. The “Crime of the Century” was the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Lindberg’s baby, Charles Jr. in 1932. 

Lindberg wasn’t a Nazi, but his isolationism and "America First” beliefs, along with his comments about Jews and race leads one to believe that he was at least Nazi-adjacent. He was publicly rebuked for those beliefs by FDR,  but after Pearl Harbor, Lindberg became an avid supporter of the war. But he wasn’t done, he helped establish national parks and worked to protect tribal people in Africa and endangered species. 

So, I guess the point of this weblog is that history is not linear. “Lucky” Lindy and his Spirit of St. Louis stands as a remarkable achievement. It overshadows the first circumnavigation of the globe and he is probably as well known as the Wright Brothers. He had unspeakable tragedy and has a tarnished reputation, but did a lot of great work too. And his fame is so great that he eclipses Bessie Coleman who no one knows about. At least not until the next entry.