Lansing submitted a memorandum proposing immediate and vigorous protest and coupled with the" Cushing" incident and the sinking of on 7 May, a British ship but carrying American passengers who drowned, president Wilson made a forceful response to Germany. In June, Bryan resigned and was replaced by Lansing. Despite his belligerent formal advice, Lansing's private papers suggest that he considered the rights and wrongs of the situation much more finely balanced and the logical outcome ought to have been impartial military trade sanctions against both belligerents. However, the U.S. economy was already heavily committed to producing military supplies for the British, while American support for one side or the other was likely to prove decisive in choosing the eventual victor.