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John Henry Eaton (June 18, 1790November 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Eaton (politician)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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