The Petticoat Affair
Everything changed when Van Buren’s soft hand touched Mrs. Eaton’s knocker.
Eek. I’m getting ahead of myself again.
The Petticoat Affair (AKA The Peggy Eaton Affair) was poised to throw my entire December Birthdays* post off-kilter. This is long over-due for it’s own post anyhow, so here we are (finally!).
Peggy Margaret Eaton** was married, but “linked” to Senator John H. Eaton (a friend of Jackson’s). Nine months after her husband died, she and Eaton married. Jackson appointed John Eaton Secretary of War.
Floride Calhoun was a Mean Girl and married to President Jackson’s VP John C. Calhoun. She and the other women of Washington believed Margaret was promiscuous. Getting remarried so quickly after her husband’s death solidified their opinion. Floride basically appointed herself the Secretary of War Against Margaret Eaton and led the women in collectively ignoring, snubbing, and scorning Eaton.
President Andrew Jackson defended Margaret Eaton. He’d been through something similar with his wife.
Rachel Jackson was married to an abusive man, who she divorced. Or so she thought. She and Andrew Jackson married without realizing her other marriage was still in effect. Brutal and hurtful rumors flew during the presidential campaign, and she died before Jackson took office. He blamed her death on John Quincy Adams and his campaign.
*Just realized today — December 3 — is Margaret Eaton’s birthday!
**I’ve always heard her called Peggy, but in her autobiography she apparently said "I never was called Peggy in all my life...I was ordinarily called by my proper name of Margaret."
John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life, by Paul C. Nagel
I realized in another post that the doodle above is not the Floride Calhoun that I’m talking about. I drew her mom, who was married to John. E. Calhoun. Yes, that’s right. The Floride I’m talking about was married to John C. Calhoun and her dad was John E. Calhoun and the men were first cousins. And the women were both named Floride.
Heirs of the Founders: Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants, by H.W. Brands
VP John C. Calhoun said “[Floride] conceived it to be the duty of Mrs. Eaton, if innocent, to open her intercourse* with the ladies who resided in the place and who had the best means of forming a correct opinion of her conduct, and not with those who, like herself, had no means of forming a correct judgment.”
*not that kind of intercourse
WTF is he talking about? He didn’t even care that much about Margaret Eaton and knew it was dangerous taking a stand against his boss, President Jackson. But, strategically speaking, happy wife happy life.
Matty Van stepped in. The Little Magician. The Enchanter. The Master Spirit… Martin Van Buren defended Margaret during “Eaton Malaria”, saying “I would rather have live vermin on my back than the tongue of one of these Washington women on my reputation.”
Martin Van Buren: The American Presidents Series: The 8th President, 1837-1841, by Ted Widmer
Yikes.
Standing up for Peggy helped cultivate a friendship with Jackson. A 19th century historian credited that with Van Buren’s eventual rise to the presidency:
“The political history of the last thirty years dates from that moment when the soft hand of Mr. Van Buren touched Mrs. Eaton’s knocker.”*
*Her doorknocker. He knocked on her door. With his soft hands.
This lead to an actual political crisis.
I’m not even kidding. Vice President Calhoun resigned. Rachel’s niece, Emily Donelson, had been serving as “surrogate First Lady” but was replaced when she took the wrong side. (Also her health was maybe an issue.) Emily’s husband, Andrew Donelson, was Jackson’s private secretary, but the scandal affected his career. All but one cabinet member was replaced. Blah blah blah… other stuff happened and then…
Martin Van Buren became vice president, which lead to him becoming president.
And it all started when he touched Mrs. Eaton’s knocker.
MARGARET EATON
A trio of dem governors-turned-POTUS