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Petticoat affair
The Petticoat affair (also known as the Eaton affair) was a political scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives, from 1829 to 1831. Led by Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, these women, dubbed the "Petticoats", socially ostracized Secretary of War John Eaton and his wife, Peggy Eaton, over disapproval of the circumstances surrounding the Eatons' marriage and what they deemed her failure to meet the "moral standards of a Cabinet Wife".
The Petticoat affair rattled the entire Jackson administration and eventually led to the resignations of Vice President Calhoun (the first such departure in U.S. history) and all but one Cabinet member. The ordeal facilitated Martin Van Buren's rise to the presidency and was in part responsible for reducing Calhoun's stature from that of a nationwide political figure with presidential aspirations into a major sectional leader of the Southern United States.
Margaret "Peggy" Eaton was the eldest daughter of William O'Neill, owner of the Franklin House, a boarding house and tavern located in Washington, D.C., a short distance from the White House, that was a well-known social hub popular with politicians and military officials. Peggy was well-educated for a woman of that era – she studied French and was known for her ability to play the piano. William T. Barry, who later served as Postmaster General, wrote "of a charming little girl ... who very frequently plays the piano, and entertains us with agreeable songs".
As a young girl, her reputation had already begun to come under scrutiny because of her employment in a bar frequented by men, as well as her casual bantering with the boarding house's clientele. In her later years, Peggy reminisced, "While I was still in pantalettes and rolling hoops with other girls, I had the attention of men, young and old; enough to turn a girl's head."
When Peggy was 15 years old, her father intervened to prevent her attempt to elope with an Army officer. In 1816, the 17-year-old Peggy married John B. Timberlake, a purser in the United States Navy. Timberlake, aged 39, had a reputation as a drunkard and was heavily in debt. The Timberlakes became acquainted with John Eaton in 1818. At the time, Eaton was a wealthy 28-year-old widower and newly elected U.S. Senator from Tennessee, despite not yet having reached the constitutionally-mandated minimum age of 30. He was also a long-time friend of Andrew Jackson.
Once Timberlake told Eaton of his financial troubles, Eaton unsuccessfully attempted to have the Senate pass legislation that would authorize payment of the debts Timberlake had accrued during his Naval service. Eventually, Eaton paid Timberlake's debts and procured him a lucrative posting to the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean Squadron; many rumormongers[who?] asserted that Eaton aided Timberlake as a means to remove him from Washington, in order for Eaton to socialize with Peggy.[citation needed]
While with the Mediterranean Squadron, Timberlake died on April 2, 1828. This served to fuel new rumors throughout Washington, suggesting he had taken his own life as the result of Eaton's supposed affair with Peggy. Medical examiners concluded Timberlake had died of pneumonia, brought on by pulmonary disease, however.
Jackson was elected president in 1828, with his term set to begin on March 4, 1829. He was reportedly fond of Peggy Timberlake and encouraged Eaton to marry her. They were wed on January 1, 1829, only nine months after her husband's death. Customarily, it would have been considered proper for their marriage to have followed a longer mourning period.
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Petticoat affair
The Petticoat affair (also known as the Eaton affair) was a political scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives, from 1829 to 1831. Led by Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, these women, dubbed the "Petticoats", socially ostracized Secretary of War John Eaton and his wife, Peggy Eaton, over disapproval of the circumstances surrounding the Eatons' marriage and what they deemed her failure to meet the "moral standards of a Cabinet Wife".
The Petticoat affair rattled the entire Jackson administration and eventually led to the resignations of Vice President Calhoun (the first such departure in U.S. history) and all but one Cabinet member. The ordeal facilitated Martin Van Buren's rise to the presidency and was in part responsible for reducing Calhoun's stature from that of a nationwide political figure with presidential aspirations into a major sectional leader of the Southern United States.
Margaret "Peggy" Eaton was the eldest daughter of William O'Neill, owner of the Franklin House, a boarding house and tavern located in Washington, D.C., a short distance from the White House, that was a well-known social hub popular with politicians and military officials. Peggy was well-educated for a woman of that era – she studied French and was known for her ability to play the piano. William T. Barry, who later served as Postmaster General, wrote "of a charming little girl ... who very frequently plays the piano, and entertains us with agreeable songs".
As a young girl, her reputation had already begun to come under scrutiny because of her employment in a bar frequented by men, as well as her casual bantering with the boarding house's clientele. In her later years, Peggy reminisced, "While I was still in pantalettes and rolling hoops with other girls, I had the attention of men, young and old; enough to turn a girl's head."
When Peggy was 15 years old, her father intervened to prevent her attempt to elope with an Army officer. In 1816, the 17-year-old Peggy married John B. Timberlake, a purser in the United States Navy. Timberlake, aged 39, had a reputation as a drunkard and was heavily in debt. The Timberlakes became acquainted with John Eaton in 1818. At the time, Eaton was a wealthy 28-year-old widower and newly elected U.S. Senator from Tennessee, despite not yet having reached the constitutionally-mandated minimum age of 30. He was also a long-time friend of Andrew Jackson.
Once Timberlake told Eaton of his financial troubles, Eaton unsuccessfully attempted to have the Senate pass legislation that would authorize payment of the debts Timberlake had accrued during his Naval service. Eventually, Eaton paid Timberlake's debts and procured him a lucrative posting to the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean Squadron; many rumormongers[who?] asserted that Eaton aided Timberlake as a means to remove him from Washington, in order for Eaton to socialize with Peggy.[citation needed]
While with the Mediterranean Squadron, Timberlake died on April 2, 1828. This served to fuel new rumors throughout Washington, suggesting he had taken his own life as the result of Eaton's supposed affair with Peggy. Medical examiners concluded Timberlake had died of pneumonia, brought on by pulmonary disease, however.
Jackson was elected president in 1828, with his term set to begin on March 4, 1829. He was reportedly fond of Peggy Timberlake and encouraged Eaton to marry her. They were wed on January 1, 1829, only nine months after her husband's death. Customarily, it would have been considered proper for their marriage to have followed a longer mourning period.