Petticoat affair
Political scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives, from 1829 to 1831.
- Petticoat affair45 related topics
John C. Calhoun
American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832, while adamantly defending slavery and protecting the interests of the white South.
Calhoun had a difficult relationship with Jackson, primarily because of the Nullification Crisis and the Petticoat affair.
Floride Calhoun
The wife of U.S. politician John C. Calhoun.
She is best known for her leading role in the Petticoat affair, which occurred during her husband's service as vice president of the United States.
Martin Van Buren
American lawyer and statesman who served as the 8th president of the United States from 1837 to 1841.
He ultimately resigned to help resolve the Petticoat affair, and briefly served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.
William T. Barry
American slave owner, statesman and jurist.
He served as Postmaster General for most of the administration of President Andrew Jackson and was the only Cabinet member not to resign in 1831 as a result of the Petticoat affair.
Second Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States
Informal title held by the spouse of the vice president of the United States, concurrent with the vice president's term of office.
In one notable exception, Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, was a central figure in the Petticoat Affair, a social-political scandal which involved the social ostracism of Secretary of War John H. Eaton and his wife Margaret O'Neill Eaton, further damaging already-strained relations between Vice President Calhoun and President Andrew Jackson.
John Eaton (politician)
American politician and diplomat from Tennessee who served as U.S. Senator and as Secretary of War in the administration of Andrew Jackson.
Eaton and his wife Peggy became the focus of controversy during Jackson's first term; in the so-called Petticoat affair, Washington's society wives refused to socialize with the Eatons.
Petticoat
Article of clothing, a type of undergarment worn under a skirt or a dress.
President Andrew Jackson's administration was beset by a scandal called the "Petticoat affair", dramatized in the 1936 film The Gorgeous Hussy.
Peggy Eaton
The wife of John Henry Eaton, a United States senator from Tennessee and United States Secretary of War, and a confidant of Andrew Jackson.
Their marriage was the cause of a national controversy known as the Petticoat Affair.
1832 United States presidential election
The 12th quadrennial presidential election, held from November 2 to December 5, 1832.
President Jackson and Vice President Calhoun had a strained relationship for a number of reasons, most notably a difference in opinion about the Nullification Crisis and the involvement of Calhoun's wife Floride in the Eaton affair.
John Branch
American politician who served as U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, the 19th Governor of the state of North Carolina, and was the sixth and last territorial governor of Florida.
John Branch resigned as Secretary in 1831, during the Petticoat affair, which involved the social ostracism of Margaret O'Neill Eaton, the wife of Secretary of War John H. Eaton by a group of Cabinet members and their wives led by Floride Calhoun, the wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun.