They called him The Little Magician .

MVB: Dutch Politician

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) was born in Kinderhook, near Albany New York, to a tavern keeper and his second wife. Originally from The Netherlands, their first language – and that of their son – was Dutch. His basic schooling was local, and by fourteen, was complete. He worked at the tavern and did chores.

But he was bright and ambitious. When the opportunity to read law arose, Matty jumped at the chance. His mentor, Peter Silvester liked him, and provided not merely a legal education, but the social graces and bearing that the up-and-coming attorney would need. That included proper dress, behavior, and the paramount necessity of listening before speaking, and taking the middle ground. He also advised his young charge to finish his law education with William Van Ness, more prominent, more successful and more political. He passed the NY Bar at 21.

His political involvement with the Democratic-Republicans of the early 19th century came quickly, and local office, state legislature, NY’s Attorney General followed. So did election to the US Senate.

By 1824, the Federalist Party was gone and the D-Rs were well on the way to their own fracture. The uber-courteous MVB kept his eyes as well as his options open. He had developed a talent for “ducking” controversy and smooth “maneuvering.” He waffled diplomatically most of the time – even when Congress was tasked with deciding the hotly contested election.

The Jackson Connection

The election of 1824, saw the D-Rs disunited. John Quincy Adams, William Crawford, Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson were all candidates for President. New Yorker Van Buren personally favored William Crawford. General Andrew Jackson, whose technically-too-late victory at the Battle of New Orleans a decade earlier presented little appeal to the now-urbane sophisticate. Nevertheless, MVB, as usual, kept a benign nodding silence when Congress was tasked with deciding the election, which went to JQ Adams.

But when Jackson visited New York some time later, MVB found him agreeably like-minded on many issues. Perhaps even more, he smelled a winner. Winning counted a great deal for The Sly Fox of Kinderhook (another of his nicknames).

He enlisted in the Jackson camp, accepted Jax’s loss in the election, turned his focus on NY’s electoral votes, and worked to insure Jackson’s future victory in his home state. In 1828 Jax won, and MVB was appointed Secretary of State.

The Cabinet Troubles

When Andrew Jackson was inaugurated, Cabinet Secretaries were heavily weighted on geopolitical accommodation rather than clout. It did not take AJ long to marginalize most of his official cabinet, and rely heavily on a cadre of unofficial advisors, nicknamed his “Kitchen Cabinet.” 

In the “official” column were Secretary of State Martin Van Buren (NY), Secretary of the Treasury Samuel D. Ingham (PA), Secretary of War John Eaton (TN), Attorney General John Berrien (GA), Secretary of the Navy John Branch (NC) and Postmaster General William Barry (KY). Vice President John C. Calhoun (SC) was never included as a cabinet member.

No sooner did Jax take office than he was blindsided by a petty social quarrel that crippled his nascent Administration. His Secretary of War, John Eaton was a close friend from Tennessee. Still a young widower, he developed a congenial friendship with Mrs. Peggy O’Neale Timberlake, daughter and hostess of the hotel owner where Eaton boarded. When Mrs. Timberlake’s sailor-husband died at sea (some said suspiciously), the relationship between hostess and senator advanced. Peggy was young, vivacious and outspoken. Gossip and slander about her moral unfitness ensued. Jackson advised Eaton to marry her and quell the brewing scandal.

Young, vivacious, and outspoken usually meant morally flawed, and the daughter of a hotel keeper was not an acceptable pedigree and social equal with other Cabinet wives. Brewing scandal quickly developed into cause celebre! She was immediately ostracized by the fair sex of Washington, led by the wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun. President Jackson, remembering the slander that caused such grief and pain to his own beloved late wife Rachel, immediately rushed to support of the “maligned” Peggy Eaton. It caused him no end of angst, and threatened to ruin his presidency.

The political wives would not budge. Calls went unreturned. If Peggy was invited, they declined. She was completely shunned and their husbands capitulated to the dictates of “society.” Mrs. Calhoun even returned to South Carolina rather than nod to the tarnished woman. Any potential accomplishments of the Jackson Administration was put on hold while they debated the social acceptance of the Secretary of War’s wife.

It lasted for two years. Nothing was getting done.

The Van Buren Solution/Coup

Secretary of State Martin Van Buren was a long-time widower, and thus removed from the petty matrimonial dictates of a snobbish society. He happily attended Peggy Eaton’s salons.

The Little Magician finally pulled a political rabbit from his bag of tricks, and devised a unique and politically canny solution. Both he and Secretary of War Eaton, would resign. 

This was anathema to Jax, who refused to allow his “friends” to be bullied for his sake. But he listened. The gist was simple: if two Cabinet members submitted their resignations, the President could conveniently request the resignations of the others en masse, freeing him to appoint more congenial associates. Hmmm. 

To the great relief of Jackson – and John Eaton as well – the POTUS appointed his former Secretary of War as Minister to Spain, where he and his notorious wife became very popular. He also appointed his former Secretary of State (MVB) as Minister to Great Britain. With his strongest and most loyal supporters out of the country and out of the fray, Jax was free to go his own way, which of course he did. The other cabinet members disappeared into oblivion.

Sources:

Marzalek, John F. The Petticoat Affair, The Free Press, 1997

Meacham, Jon,  American Lion in the White House, Random House, 2008

Van Buren, Martin – The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren – Chelsea House, 1983 (reprint)

Peggy Eaton

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/john-c-calhoun

Eaton Affair