The Dragon Lady Conquers America Part II
fleeting. China's first lady left the United States on July 4, 1943; she had charmed an entire nation for a few months and her trip succeeded in temporarily expanding aid to China. Nevertheless, she failed to charm the Joint Chiefs of Staff out of their sensible "Hitler first" strategy.
On the return trip the Madame's pilot was C.N. Shelton; he would remain her pilot whenever she flew out of China. After the war, when the Madame found out Shelton wanted to start his own business in Latin America, she lent him a quarter of a million dollars to start a company making removable airplane seats; she kept a 50% share for herself.
This month Madame Chiang Kai-shek celebrates her 106 birthday at her home in New York City.
Sources: Eleanor Roosevelt's My Day: her Acclaimed Columns, 1936-1952/.Edited by Rochelle Chadakoff; The Song Dynasty, Sterling Seagrave; Luce and his Empire, W.A. Swanberg; Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945, Barbara Tuchman; FDR My Boss, Grace Tully; The Complete Presidential Press Conferences of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Vol. 21-22, 1943.; Time; Life.
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