While the President cruised in "Tuscaloosa", American officials in Washington wrestled with the problem of extending aid to Britain. Having barely weathered the disastrous campaign in France in the spring and the Battle of Britain in the summer, the United Kingdom desperately needed materiel. American production could meet Britain's need, but American neutrality law limiting the purchase of arms by belligerents to "cash-and-carry" transactions was about to become a major obstacle, for British coffers were almost empty. While pondering Britain's plight as he luxuriated in "Tuscaloosa", the President hit upon the idea of the Lend-Lease program to aid the embattled British.