Emily Donelson Of Tennessee

The youngest daughter of one of the founding patriarchs of middle Tennessee & the niece of Andrew Jackson, Emily Tennessee Donelson seemed destined for the life of a southern plantation mistress. At seventeen, she married her first cousin Andrew J. Donelson, the namesake & ward of General Jackson. Four years later, however, her life changed dramatically as she & her husband traveled to Washington to serve her uncle in the White House. Andrew Donelson became the president's private secretary, & Emily assumed the role of White House hostess, filling a void left by the death of Jackson's beloved wife, Rachel, shortly after the election. Emily soon found herself immersed in the central controversy of the first Jackson administration, the Eaton Affair. It began as a petticoat scandal involving the social acceptance of Margaret Eaton, the new wife of Secretary of State John Eaton, who was reportedly a woman of loose character. Jackson assumed the rumors to be the work of his political rivals & was shocked when Emily & her husband spurned Mrs. Eaton. The controversy consumed the first two years of the Jackson presidency, & the Donelsons left Washington rather than betray their moral stance. Eaton eventually resigned, & the Donelsons returned to the capital. Restored to Washington, Emily reveled in the local society & took charge of her four children, the largest number to be born in the White House. Emily Donelson of Tennessee provides a fascinating chronicle of the social & political culture of Jacksonian America. Politicians & events in both Washington & Tennessee come alive in this book--in large part because Pauline Burke's unique position as a descendant of the Donelson family enabled her to draw on a rich trove of oral history, letters, & journals. Originally published in two volumes in 1941, this new, abridged edition of Emily Donelson of Tennessee is an engaging account of a woman who embraced traditional nineteenth-century gender roles. Additionally, the book highlights the author's own responses to the changing position of women in society.Pauline Wilcox Burke is the author of 'Emily Donelson Of Tennessee', published 2001 under ISBN 9781572331372 and ISBN 1572331372.