ANDREW JACKSON AND THE EATON AFFAIR: A NATIONAL SOAP OPERA

The political situation at that time also played a role in the scandal. Democrats at that point were divided into two camps. There were those who supported Jackson and favored Secretary of State Van Buren for the next president, and those who supported Jackson and favored Vice President John Calhoun to be the next president.

The cabinet wives, led by the socialite wife of Vice President Calhoun, ostracized the Eatons. This became especially embarrassing when every cabinet wife made her husband take her home the moment the Eatons arrived at an official dinner or function. The entire government would leave, creating an embarrassing situation for President Jackson in front of the world's ambassadors.

Jackson held a cabinet meeting to discuss the social situation that was so adversely affecting his government. The government of the United States met to discuss a woman. Jackson, of course, stood by his loyal friend. Also, he saw some similarity in the gossip directed against Mrs. Eaton to that directed against his wife during the election. Both factors made him come down heavily on the side of Mrs. Eaton. He instructed his cabinet to cease the ostracism of the Eatons.

Vice President Calhoun saw this as an opportunity to improve his position. Rather than tell his wife to include Mrs. Eaton in social affairs, he encouraged her to increase her campaign against Mrs. Eaton. Calhoun hoped to make the Eatons so uncomfortable that Eaton, a key Van Buren supporter, would resign and go back to Tennessee. Calhoun got what he wished for. John Eaton resigned, and a furious Jackson reluctantly accepted his resignation. Calhoun was overjoyed.

Van Buren, who was nicknamed the "Fox of Kinderhook," also resigned. He knew that tradition dictated that when two major cabinet members resigned, the rest were expected to resign in order to give the president a free hand in re-organizing his cabinet. Jackson at first refused Van Buren's resignation, until Van Buren explained. Jackson then accepted all cabinet resignations, and replaced the entire cabinet with men from the Van Buren faction of the party. Van Buren had turned Calhoun's victory into a defeat.

Jackson, always eager to reward loyalty, appointed Van Buren minister to the Court of St. James (England), the most coveted post other than secretary of state. Van Buren needed only to be confirmed by the Senate. Calhoun, as vice president, was the presiding officer of the Senate. He used his control and influence

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