Margaret, commonly known as Peggy, Eaton was not the average women in the mid-1800s. Her flirtatious and outgoing character was against all norms in this era. If it had not been for Rachel Jackson’s own tainted reputation, President Andrew Jackson might not have been so supportive of his Secretary of War’s wife, Peggy Eaton. Due to alleged rumors and an inconvenient death, Peggy would become known as “the woman who started the war”.
Margaret Eaton, a musician and dancer, had been raised in a boarding house that was frequently visited by Washington politicians. Because of this, she became a sharp observer of politics and charmed many of the boarding house’s inhabitants, including Senator Andrew Jackson and John Eaton. Due to her coquettishness, Peggy was accused of many affairs during her marriage to a Navy sailor at the age
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Vice President John Calhoun’s wife led the other wives in snubbing the Eatons at social gatherings. The wives thought of Peggy as too flirtatious and too outlandish mostly because she didn’t wait the expected amount of time until remarriage. Because Andrew Jackson’s wife, Rachel Jackson, wasn’t legally divorced to her former husband before remarrying to Jackson, he was furious when Peggy was treated the same and demanded everyone treat her as an equal. The wives were flustered with Jackson’s demands and forced their husbands to resign from office, including Eaton and Van Buren. The mass resignations led Jackson to form a “Kitchen Cabinet” filled with immoral advisors. Jackson was also accused to undermining the separation of powers by expanding the powers of the executive branch because he reshuffled his cabinet; however, Jackson was only trying to forget the scandal, protect his presidency, and keep the government running. At the same time, Jackson stood up for unequal treatment to a woman in the