Carter Roy

Maybe Wilson hid the manifest because he was involved in Room 40's plan to sink the Lusitania.

Yeah, maybe this was an international conspiracy and the president deceived Americans because he wanted to go to war.

For years, the US and UK insisted that the Lusitania was an innocent passenger ship unjustly attacked by two German torpedoes.

But it later came out that they covered up the truth of the ship's military capabilities and what it was carrying.

As the conspiracy theory goes, a top secret British naval group, Room 40, might have intentionally set the ship up to sink to pull the US into the war.

And rather than being the victim of Room 40's manipulation, President Woodrow Wilson may have been their collaborator.

During World War I, Wilson had a copy of the Lusitania's second secret manifest in his desk.

This manifest wasn't even filed until after the Lusitania set sail.

Its 24 pages listed cargo including...

Explosives, artillery shells, fuses, and 170 tons of Remington rifle ammo.

Some of those rifle cartridges were recovered by a diver in 2008, so we know it's accurate.

Beneath civilian beds, the Lusitania was hiding ammunition for war.

And President Wilson kept it all top secret.

Because he'd been asked explicitly.

You see, the Lusitania wasn't the first ship to leave America with secret ammunition on board.

The practice of hiding weapons on passenger ships carrying families was commonly called bullets and babies, and it was unpopular.

Politicians called for the practice to end.

Worse, German spies in New York Harbor found out.

Germany sent President Wilson a warning.

If you guys keep doing this, we'll have to shoot those ships.