John Eaton (politician)

John Henry Eaton
United States Minister to Spain
In office March 16, 1836 – May 1, 1840
President	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	William T. Barry
Succeeded by	Aaron Vail
13th United States Secretary of War
In office March 9, 1829 – June 18, 1831
President	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	Peter Buell Porter
Succeeded by	Lewis Cass
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office September 5, 1818 – March 9, 1829
Preceded by	George W. Campbell
Succeeded by	Felix Grundy
Personal details
Born	(1790-06-18)June 18, 1790 Halifax County, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	November 17, 1856(1856-11-17) (aged 66) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Myra Lewis, Margaret O'Neill Eaton
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Profession	Lawyer, Politician
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Battles/wars	War of 1812

John Henry Eaton (June 18, 1790 – November 17, 1856) was an American politician and diplomat from Tennessee who served as U.S. Senator and as Secretary of War in the administration of Andrew Jackson. He was 28 years old when he took office, making him the second-youngest U.S. Senator in history after Armistead Thomson Mason.

Biography

Eaton was born near Scotland Neck, Halifax County, North Carolina. His first wife was Myra Lewis, who died before 1818, when he was 28 years old. Eaton was a lawyer and member of the Democratic Party. He served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 and was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1815 to 1816.

Eaton married his second wife Peggy O'Neill Timberlake, a longtime friend and newly bereaved widow, in 1829, years after meeting her and her husband in Washington, DC.

In 1818 he was elected Senator from Tennessee and served until 1829. His age of 28 at the time of his entry to the Senate was notable; it contradicted the US Constitution's requirement that all Senators be over the age of 30.

Eaton was a close personal friend of Andrew Jackson. After Jackson became President, Eaton and Postmaster General Amos Kendall were members of Jackson's Cabinet, as well as part of his informal circle of advisors. Jackson detractors called them his "Kitchen Cabinet". (Apparently this group did, in fact, frequently meet in the White House kitchen.)

Eaton resigned his Senate seat in 1829 due to a social scandal and took up appointment as Jackson's Secretary of War, serving from 1829 to 1831. Respectable women in Washington social circles led by Floride Calhoun, the wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, had snubbed her for marrying Eaton shortly after her husband's death, and because of rumors that they had been having an affair prior to their marriage. The disruption penetrated the Cabinet as wives became involved on opposite sides of the issue. Jackson was furious to have his friend's wife scorned. The controversy, known as the Petticoat affair, indirectly contributed to the political rise of Martin Van Buren, a member of Jackson's cabinet who supported the Eatons.

After being persuaded by then Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, Eaton resigned as Secretary of War on June 18, 1831. He later served as Governor of Florida Territory from 1834 to 1836, and as ambassador to Spain from 1836 to 1840.

Eaton, a Freemason, died in Washington, D.C. on November 17, 1856. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Legacy

Eaton County, Michigan, is named in his honor.^[1]

Notes

References

• John Eaton at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Youngest Senator in history - Senate.gov

External links

•  "Eaton, John Henry". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900. 
•  "Eaton, John Henry". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
• John Eaton at Find a Grave

United States Senators from Tennessee Class 1 Cocke A. Jackson Smith J. Anderson Campbell Eaton Grundy Foster Grundy Nicholson Foster Turney Jones Johnson Patterson Brownlow Johnson Key Bailey H. Jackson Whitthorne Bate Frazier Lea McKellar Gore Sr. Brock III Sasser Frist Corker Class 2 Blount J. Anderson Cocke Smith Whiteside Campbell Wharton Williams A. Jackson White A. Anderson Jarnagin Bell Nicholson Fowler Cooper Harris Turley Carmack Taylor Sanders Webb Shields Tyson Brock I Hull Bachman Berry Stewart Kefauver Walters Bass Baker Gore Jr. Mathews Thompson Alexander

U.S. Secretaries of War and the Army U.S. Department of War (1789–1949) Secretaries of War B. Lincoln Knox Pickering McHenry Dexter Dearborn Eustis Armstrong Monroe W. Crawford Calhoun Barbour P. Porter Eaton Cass Poinsett Bell Spencer J. Porter Wilkins Marcy G. Crawford Conrad J. Davis Floyd Holt S. Cameron Stanton Schofield Rawlins Belknap A. Taft J. Cameron McCrary Ramsey R. Lincoln Endicott Proctor Elkins Lamont Alger Root W. Taft Wright Dickinson Stimson Garrison Baker Weeks D. Davis Good Hurley Dern Woodring Stimson Patterson Royall Assistant Secretaries of War Scott Watson Tucker Wolcott Dana Eckert Grant Doe Meiklejohn Sanger Oliver Breckinridge Ingraham Crowell Williams Wainwright D. Davis MacNider Hurley Payne Woodring L. Johnson Patterson McCloy Petersen U.S. Department of the Army (1949–present) Secretaries of the Army Royall Gray Pace Stevens Brucker Stahr Vance Ailes Resor Froehlke Callaway Hoffmann C. Alexander Marsh Stone West Caldera White Harvey Geren McHugh Under Secretaries of the Army Draper Gray Voorhees A. Alexander Bendetsen E. Johnson Slezak Finucane Milton Ailes Ignatius Resor McGiffert Beal BeLieu Staudt Augustine LaBerge Ambrose Stone Shannon Reeder Walker Rostker Dahlberg Brownlee Geren Ford Westphal Carson

Governors of Florida Military (1821) Jackson Territorial (1822–45) Duval Eaton Call Reid Call Branch State (since 1845) Moseley Brown Broome Perry Milton Allison Marvin Walker Reed Hart Stearns Drew Bloxham Perry Fleming Mitchell Bloxham Jennings Broward Gilchrist Trammell Catts Hardee Martin Carlton Sholtz Cone Holland Caldwell Warren McCarty Johns Collins Bryant Burns Kirk Askew Graham Mixson Martinez Chiles MacKay Bush Crist Scott