14. An attempt by Vice President Calhoun and his wife to ostracize a fellow cabinet member’s wife, the Petticoat Affair transformed into a full-blown political crisis that threatened to bring down the Jacksonian White House
Known also as the Eaton Affair, the Petticoat Affair was a trivial dispute which grew to engulf the entire Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson between 1829 and 1831. Both widowed, Jackson’s Secretary of War, John Eaton, married Margaret “Peggy” O’Neill in 1829 under controversial circumstances. Wed soon after the death of her husband, rumors spread of a pre-marital affair between the couple and even suggestions of foul play. Opinionated and political, in contrast to societal expectations of womanhood, Peggy quickly found herself at odds with the wives of other members of the cabinet. Led by Second Lady Floride Calhoun, Washington’s political elite sought to drive the couple from the city.
Ostracizing the Eatons, refusing to acknowledge them, receive them as guests, or visit their home, the “anti-Peggy coalition” arranged that the Eatons were denied access to social functions throughout the city. The only unmarried member of Jackson’s cabinet, widowed himself, Secretary of State Martin Van Buren earned the gratitude of Jackson for defending the embattled Eatons whom he remained close to. Resigning in protest of their treatment, Van Buren provided Jackson with the excuse he needed to remove Calhoun’s supporters from his government. Calhoun himself was ousted as Vice President, with Van Buren replacing him throughout Jackson’s remaining tenure before succeeding him as the eighth President.