Okla-homey
3/27/2006, 07:12 AM
March 27, 1829 President Jackson appoints John Eaton as secretary of war and starts a scandal
On this day 177 years ago, President Andrew Jackson defies Washington society matrons and appoints scandal-plagued John Eaton as his secretary of war.
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/4893/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
John Eaton was born in North Carolina on June 18, 1790. He had been a lawyer in Nashville, Tenn. where he and Jackson became friends, and a U.S. senator from Tennessee for eight years when President Andrew Jackson appointed him Secretary of War in 1828.
Earlier that year, Eaton had married a former tavern wench with a supposedly lurid past. Margaret “Peggy” Eaton had been raised in a boardinghouse frequented by Washington politicians and became an astute observer of politics, as well as an accomplished musician and dancer.
She charmed many of the boardinghouse’s tenants, including then-Senator Andrew Jackson and his friend John Eaton, and was suspected of being a "loose woman" before her first marriage. She was 23 and the wife of a Navy sailor named Timberlake when she first met Jackson and Eaton. Eaton enjoyed Margaret’s wit, intelligence and probably her bed and escorted her to Washington social functions while her husband was away at sea.
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/6973/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz16.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Peggy Eaton was the charming and attractive daughter of a well-established tavern keeper in Washington, D.C. One admirer described her “well-rounded, voluptuous figure, peach-pink complexion…large, active dark eyes, …[and] full sensuous lips, ready to break into an engaging smile.” She worked as a barmaid and made friends with the congressmen and senators who stayed at her father’s tavern, The Franklin House.
When Margaret’s first husband died unexpectedly, rumors abounded that he had committed suicide over his wife’s affair with Eaton. Both Eaton and Margaret denied the affair, claiming to be nothing more than friends.
In addition to Margaret’s sullied reputation, her passionate nature, flirtatiousness and outspokenness irked Washington’s society matrons at a time when those qualities were considered unseemly in women. When Eaton and Margaret married shortly after her first husband’s death, the ladies of Washington society ostracized the new couple.
Jackson sympathized with and supported his friend Eaton. Jackson’s late wife Rachel—whom he had unwittingly married before her divorce from her first husband was final--had also been the victim of social gossip when she first came to Washington.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1069/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Wanna learn more? Check out this book
When someone advised Jackson against making Eaton his secretary of war because of Margaret’s reputation, Jackson barked, “do you suppose that I have been sent here by the people to consult the ladies of Washington as to the proper persons to compose my cabinet?!"
Secretary of State Martin Van Buren (and eventual president) also sided with Eaton. It was Vice President John Calhoun’s wife Floride Bonneau Calhoun of SC who led Washington’s elite in snubbing the Eatons at social gatherings. Their tactic usually involved simply ignoring her and refusing to speak or acknowledge her presence at social gatherings.
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6195/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz24.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Then VP John C. Calhoun. No images of his wife Floride (and first cousin) were available for this installment
For the rest of Jackson’s first term, his opponents used the “Eaton Affair” or “Petticoat Affair,” as it was known, to attack the president’s moral judgment and, by extension, his administration’s policies and appointees.
By 1831, the Eaton Affair had proved immensely divisive and politically damaging to Jackson. In response, Eaton and Van Buren resigned in order to give Jackson the opportunity to overhaul his cabinet with new members and protect his presidency from further scandal.
Jackson took care of Eaton and appointed him the territorial governor of Florida.
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/9705/insane7zo2cc.jpg
On this day 177 years ago, President Andrew Jackson defies Washington society matrons and appoints scandal-plagued John Eaton as his secretary of war.
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/4893/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
John Eaton was born in North Carolina on June 18, 1790. He had been a lawyer in Nashville, Tenn. where he and Jackson became friends, and a U.S. senator from Tennessee for eight years when President Andrew Jackson appointed him Secretary of War in 1828.
Earlier that year, Eaton had married a former tavern wench with a supposedly lurid past. Margaret “Peggy” Eaton had been raised in a boardinghouse frequented by Washington politicians and became an astute observer of politics, as well as an accomplished musician and dancer.
She charmed many of the boardinghouse’s tenants, including then-Senator Andrew Jackson and his friend John Eaton, and was suspected of being a "loose woman" before her first marriage. She was 23 and the wife of a Navy sailor named Timberlake when she first met Jackson and Eaton. Eaton enjoyed Margaret’s wit, intelligence and probably her bed and escorted her to Washington social functions while her husband was away at sea.
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/6973/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz16.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Peggy Eaton was the charming and attractive daughter of a well-established tavern keeper in Washington, D.C. One admirer described her “well-rounded, voluptuous figure, peach-pink complexion…large, active dark eyes, …[and] full sensuous lips, ready to break into an engaging smile.” She worked as a barmaid and made friends with the congressmen and senators who stayed at her father’s tavern, The Franklin House.
When Margaret’s first husband died unexpectedly, rumors abounded that he had committed suicide over his wife’s affair with Eaton. Both Eaton and Margaret denied the affair, claiming to be nothing more than friends.
In addition to Margaret’s sullied reputation, her passionate nature, flirtatiousness and outspokenness irked Washington’s society matrons at a time when those qualities were considered unseemly in women. When Eaton and Margaret married shortly after her first husband’s death, the ladies of Washington society ostracized the new couple.
Jackson sympathized with and supported his friend Eaton. Jackson’s late wife Rachel—whom he had unwittingly married before her divorce from her first husband was final--had also been the victim of social gossip when she first came to Washington.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1069/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Wanna learn more? Check out this book
When someone advised Jackson against making Eaton his secretary of war because of Margaret’s reputation, Jackson barked, “do you suppose that I have been sent here by the people to consult the ladies of Washington as to the proper persons to compose my cabinet?!"
Secretary of State Martin Van Buren (and eventual president) also sided with Eaton. It was Vice President John Calhoun’s wife Floride Bonneau Calhoun of SC who led Washington’s elite in snubbing the Eatons at social gatherings. Their tactic usually involved simply ignoring her and refusing to speak or acknowledge her presence at social gatherings.
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6195/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz24.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Then VP John C. Calhoun. No images of his wife Floride (and first cousin) were available for this installment
For the rest of Jackson’s first term, his opponents used the “Eaton Affair” or “Petticoat Affair,” as it was known, to attack the president’s moral judgment and, by extension, his administration’s policies and appointees.
By 1831, the Eaton Affair had proved immensely divisive and politically damaging to Jackson. In response, Eaton and Van Buren resigned in order to give Jackson the opportunity to overhaul his cabinet with new members and protect his presidency from further scandal.
Jackson took care of Eaton and appointed him the territorial governor of Florida.
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/9705/insane7zo2cc.jpg