Book Review: The Petticoat Affair
John Marszalek, in his book The Petticoat Affair: Manners Mutiny and Sex in Andrew Jackson's White House, investigates the well-documented and scandalous 'Eaton Affair' of President Andrew Jackson's first presidential term, in which he defended the provocative marriage of Peggy Timberlake (rumored to be sexually promiscuous) to Jackson's War Secretary John Henry Eaton. Since the wives of the rest of Jackson's Cabinet refused to accept her into the fold, Jackson tirelessly spent two years of his life trying to defend her honor, which cost Jackson a great deal of reputation and cachet among the American people. It even cost him ...
