1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
When President Andrew Jackson appointed young Sen. John Eaton to be his Secretary of War on March 27, 1829, it ignited a scandal which became known as the Petticoat Affair. Led by Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, Washington’s society wives refused to socialize with Eaton’s wife Peggy, who was the wife of his late friend John Timberlake. Eaton, himself a widower, and Peggy married only a few months after her first husband’s death at sea in the Mediterranean Squadron. That, plus her experience working in her father’s tavern and boarding house, led to rumors that she and Eaton has been involved prior to John Timberlake’s death and that Peggy was sexually promiscuous. The “Petticoats,” as the disapproving wives were known for their parlor politics, deemed the Eatons’ marriage a moral failure and the fallout was so great that Eaton even considered resigning from Jackson’s administration. But Jackson viewed it more as an attempt by Calhoun supporters, who wanted to deny Jackson a second term, to undermine his presidency.
Copyright © 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
