what was the affair with regards to petticoat about?
It involved lower-ranking executive officials and their wives seeming to contest his ability to choose whomever he wanted for his cabinet.
John C. Calhoun
 Jackson, who loved to personalize disputes, also saw the Petticoat affair as a direct challenge to his authority, because it involved lower-ranking executive officials and their wives seeming to contest his ability to choose whomever he wanted for his cabinet. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, took Jackson's side and defended the Eatons. 
who was the vice president that served under the following two presidents UNANSWERABLE who was john c. calhoun? He was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina what was his rhetorical style? He was not known for charisma. He was often seen as harsh and aggressive with other representatives.
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John C. Calhoun [SEP] Petticoat affair
Remini, believe that the hostility towards the Eatons was rooted less in questions of proper behavior than in politics. Eaton had been in favor of the Tariff of Abominations. He was also politically close to Van Buren. Calhoun may have wanted to expel Eaton from the cabinet as a way of boosting his anti-tariff agenda and increasing his standing in the Democratic Party. Many cabinet members were Southern and could be expected to sympathize with such concerns, especially Treasury Secretary Samuel D. Ingham, who was allied with Calhoun and believed that he, not Van Buren, should succeed Jackson as president.