Spoils System
The spoils system was a practice whereby government benefits and jobs are given only to faithful followers of the political party in power. (Schuhmann, Facts on File). In this system, friends and supporters of those in power were often granted positions while enemies and those in opposite political parties would be punished and removed from office. During Jackson's presidency, he embraced the spoils system and rid the office of people who had been there since Washington's time. When Jackson became President, he implemented the theory of rotation in office by political appointments, declaring it "a leading principle in the republican creed". He believed that rotation in office would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. Jackson implicating this spoils system set the example that common men could do any and all positions in public service. Giving jobs in return for political support did not always insure getting the best man for the job. It meant placing political support before a person's qualifications. It also meant removing some of Adams' appointments without full regard for their worth.
By the time Jackson left office, he had dismissed approximately twenty percent of federal employees, replacing them with people loyal to the Jacksonian Democracy. Although Jackson did not start or end the spoils system, Thomas Jefferson had used it on a smaller scale, for example, using it on such a scale encouraged its growth. As a result of Jackson's precedent of the spoils system on a national scale, after an election communities would see vast changes in those employed by the government. The employees faithful to the previous party would promptly be replaced by those in the new party. This led to a sort of corruption where officials were appointed with no skills or experience related to their responsibilities.
By the time Jackson left office, he had dismissed approximately twenty percent of federal employees, replacing them with people loyal to the Jacksonian Democracy. Although Jackson did not start or end the spoils system, Thomas Jefferson had used it on a smaller scale, for example, using it on such a scale encouraged its growth. As a result of Jackson's precedent of the spoils system on a national scale, after an election communities would see vast changes in those employed by the government. The employees faithful to the previous party would promptly be replaced by those in the new party. This led to a sort of corruption where officials were appointed with no skills or experience related to their responsibilities.
Petticoat Affair
The Petticoat Affair, also known as the Eaton Affair, can be a direct effect of Jackson's implementation of the spoils system.
Margaret (Peggy) O'Neale married John Timberlake, who after their marriage went out to sea. Timberlake was close friends with John Henry Eaton, who escorted Peggy around town in his absence. Rumors soon began that Eaton and Peggy were having an affair. However, that was false and Eaton and Timberlake were friends and Timberlake wrote a letter saying that if anything were to happen to him, he would want Eaton to care for Margaret and their two daughters. Margaret worked two jobs, one serving at a tavern and she also worked at her parents' boarding house where she became acquaintances with many political figures, including Jackson.
When Margaret learned that her husband had committed suicide, she was used to life without him as he had been gone for years. In less than a year of mourning, she married Senator John Henry Eaton of Tennessee, future Secretary of State in Jackson's cabinet. During this time, it was taboo and socially unacceptable to marry without mourning for a year, and Eaton was encouraged to wait to marry Margaret for this reason and that he would soon be in office. Andrew Jackson, however, granted them his best wishes, but he had just lost his beloved wife, Rachel, and might not have thought it through.
The actions of Eaton and Peggy scandalized respectable people of the capital especially women, including the wife of the vice president, Second Lady Floride Calhoun. She led other Cabinet wives in an "anti-Peggy" coalition. Jackson was sympathetic to the Eaton's partially because of his beloved late wife, who had been subject of innuendo, as it was revealed that her first marriage had not yet been legally ended at the time she married Jackson. Andrew Jackson believed such rumors were the cause of Rachel's heart attack in December 1828 that killed her. Jackson also appointed Eaton as his Secretary of War in hopes of limiting the rumors of Eaton and Peggy, but the scandal intensified. The controversy finally resulted in the resignation of almost all members of the Cabinet over a period of weeks in the spring of 1831.
Margaret (Peggy) O'Neale married John Timberlake, who after their marriage went out to sea. Timberlake was close friends with John Henry Eaton, who escorted Peggy around town in his absence. Rumors soon began that Eaton and Peggy were having an affair. However, that was false and Eaton and Timberlake were friends and Timberlake wrote a letter saying that if anything were to happen to him, he would want Eaton to care for Margaret and their two daughters. Margaret worked two jobs, one serving at a tavern and she also worked at her parents' boarding house where she became acquaintances with many political figures, including Jackson.
When Margaret learned that her husband had committed suicide, she was used to life without him as he had been gone for years. In less than a year of mourning, she married Senator John Henry Eaton of Tennessee, future Secretary of State in Jackson's cabinet. During this time, it was taboo and socially unacceptable to marry without mourning for a year, and Eaton was encouraged to wait to marry Margaret for this reason and that he would soon be in office. Andrew Jackson, however, granted them his best wishes, but he had just lost his beloved wife, Rachel, and might not have thought it through.
The actions of Eaton and Peggy scandalized respectable people of the capital especially women, including the wife of the vice president, Second Lady Floride Calhoun. She led other Cabinet wives in an "anti-Peggy" coalition. Jackson was sympathetic to the Eaton's partially because of his beloved late wife, who had been subject of innuendo, as it was revealed that her first marriage had not yet been legally ended at the time she married Jackson. Andrew Jackson believed such rumors were the cause of Rachel's heart attack in December 1828 that killed her. Jackson also appointed Eaton as his Secretary of War in hopes of limiting the rumors of Eaton and Peggy, but the scandal intensified. The controversy finally resulted in the resignation of almost all members of the Cabinet over a period of weeks in the spring of 1831.