toniconi

Washington, 1829—The halls of the White House had seen political rivalries, backroom deals, and fiery debates, but never had they been set ablaze by the whispers of scandal quite like this. President Andrew Jackson had marched through wars, crushed his enemies, and defied death in duels, but he now found himself embroiled in a battle unlike any other—one fought with gossip, social snubs, and the sharp-edged tongues of Washington’s elite. At the center of the storm stood Margaret "Peggy" Eaton, the wife of Jackson’s Secretary of War, John Eaton. Beautiful, sharp-witted, and bold, Peggy was not the sort of woman to bow to societal expectations. Raised in her father’s tavern, she had grown up amidst the political elite who dined and drank there, developing a keen sense of charm and an iron will. But Washington’s high society—especially the wives of Jackson’s cabinet members—viewed her as something else entirely: improper, scandalous, unworthy. The whispers began almost immediate...