Emily Donelson was acting first lady for her Uncle Andrew
Jackson during his presidency from 1829 to 1834. Ms. Donelson was the daughter
of President Jackson’s wife’s brother. President Jackson’s wife Rachel died weeks
before his inauguration. Emily’s childhood was spent in Tennessee where she had
very little exposure to politics or social life. She married in 1824 to Andrew Donelson who
would later become personal secretary to President Jackson and accompany him to
Washington, DC upon his inauguration. During her marriage, Emily had four
children two sons and two daughters. Out of all the children born to persons of
society, her children were the only kids to have future presidents as their
godfathers. President Jackson was the godfather to her sons and Martin Van Buren
and James Polk would become the godfathers of her two daughters.
Upon entering Washington, DC, Emily Donelson became the
hostess for her uncle as acting First Lady for all events given at the White
House. Although Emily was an outstanding hostess, she became embroiled in what
was to be known as the Petticoat Affair. The Petticoat Affair was a result of
gossip between Socialite Peggy Eaton who was rumored to be the mistress of
Emily’s husband. Emily wished and insisted that her husband distance himself from
Peggy Eaton and her husband followed her lead. This caused a serious scandal
within the Jackson White House. Things got even worse when Jackson asked
Donelson to invite Eaton to the christening of her child. Emily explained to
the close friends of President Jackson that she found Eaton of an unpleasant
character. During the Congressional
break in 1830, the rift between the Donelsons and President Jackson became so hostile
that when the President returned to Washington, Emily remained in Tennessee and
Mary Ann Lewis, a friend of Peggy Eaton served as the hostess for President
Jackson in Donelson’s stead. The Rift between
the Donelson’s and the Jacksons continued to cause a problem for the Jackson
presidency and got to the point that Mr. Donelson returned to Washington, DC
while Emily stayed in Tennessee taking care of her children. Jackson would not
allow Emily to return to the White House unless she relented and allowed Peggy
Eaton to attend social functions and to be nice to her. Emily refused to give
in and was not allowed to continue as hostess. In September of that year,
Jackson’s son married Sarah Yorke and She became the new hostess of the Jackson
White House.
In the spring of 1836, Emily returned to Tennessee and overdid it while moving furniture into the newly renovated plantation of Poplar
Grove which resulted in her becoming very ill with tuberculosis. Emily died on
December 19, 1836, at the age of 29. Her husband didn’t return to Tennessee
until two days after her death.
Emily isn't remembered for her hosting skills, but instead for her social decorum when dealing with scrupulous women in Washington, DC. Her stand of not allowing scandalous women to attack the families of dignitaries associated with the White House continues to stand to this day.
Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years
of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere.
Graduating with an Associate of Arts from Pheonix University, then a degree in
Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, onto Walden
University for her Masters in Criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and
Identity Theft, and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology,
her portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, Politics, history, and true crime. In her spare time, Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink Gouache, and pastels.
As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career,
Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using
history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 6 various blogs from art
to life coaching, to food, to writing, and opinion or history pieces each week.
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