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Charles A. Lindbergh (1902-1974) learned to fly in 1922 and became famous five years later when he made the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean May 20-21, 1927. In July of that year, he began a flying tour of the United States under the sponsorship of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund. He reached Portland, Or., Sept. 14, 1927, landing on Swan Island. Two days later he left for San Francisco.

In 1932, Lindbergh again made headlines when his son was kidnapped and killed. The media attention during the investigation and trial convinced Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, to move to Europe for several years. Returning in 1939, Charles Lindbergh became active in the America First movement opposing U.S. participation in World War II. The movement disbanded after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. During World War II, he worked with the Ford Motor Company to convert automobile plants to airplane production. In 1944 he flew many combat missions in the Pacific war, although he was a civilian.

After the war ended, Lindbergh retired from public life to write and work as a technical advisor in the airline industry. In the 1960s he became active in the conservation movement. He died in 1974.