The Eaton Affair involved how the wives of Jackson’s cabinet members treated Peggy Eaton, the wife of Secretary of War John Eaton. Many women, including Floride Calhoun—the wife of vice president John C. Calhoun—believed that Peggy Eaton did not comport herself properly and married John Eaton far too soon after the death of her first husband.

Andrew Jackson sided with Peggy Eaton and it led to great tension among his cabinet. It led to the effective dissolution of Jackson’s original cabinet. Jackson came to rely on a group of informal advisors known as his “Kitchen Cabinet.”