[May 9, 2017] Occasionally I run across a book, typically out of print, which gives a unique view on the thinking of a leader whose experiences during a historic time, providing me with insight into how a senior leader thinks. The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh (1970) is just such a book. In it we can see his evolution of thinking from pre World War II through to its aftermath.
I’m deviating from my normal review of books because this is not just a book about a senior leader in the traditional sense but an actual journal written by Charles Lindbergh himself. The journal does not have the distortions that a historian or biographer would inject but only those of the writer himself. What I like most about it is that one can easily see into how Lindbergh’s thinking progresses through various stages.
Remember that Lindbergh was criticized during his lifetime and even today as being a Nazi sympathizer, a racist, and an isolationist. His writings give us a deeper understanding of his views (common among most in America at the time) and the context in which he wrote. The journal was put together by William Jovanovich who does a good job of inserting notes on key events that are relevant to better understanding of the times that Lindbergh wrote.
Here is a pertinent section of his journal just after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Navy:
Thursday, December 11 [1941]
Germany and Italy have declared war on the United States. Now, all that I feared would happen has happened. We are at war all over the world, and we are unprepared for it from either a spiritual or a material standpoint. Fortunately, in spite of all that has been said, the oceans are still difficult to cross; and we have the time to adjust and prepared, which France lacked and which England has had only in part since aviation has spanned the barrier of her Channel. We can, of course, be raided; but unless we let ourselves go completely to pieces internally, we cannot be invaded successfully. But this is only one part of the picture. We are in a war which requires us to attack if we are to win it. We must attack in Asia and in Europe, in fact, all over the world. That means raising and equipping an army of many millions and building shipping, which we have not now got. And after that, if we are to carry through our present war aims, it probably means the bloodiest and most devastating war of all history.
Note that Lindbergh flew 50 combat missions in the Pacific Theater of World War II as a “civilian consultant.” U.S. President Roosevelt had refused to reinstate Lindbergh’s Air Corps colonel’s commission and that is why he was a civilian fighting in that theater of war. Say what you will about him but he stood by his principles and was willing to put his life on the line for them.
Lindbergh’s writings on race, the European continent, Communism, and many other issues that still dominate political debates today are addressed here. Excellent book (but very long at 1,000 pages) for those who are interested in how senior leaders think and act. Not for the faint of heart. Highly recommended.
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