Description:

Jackson Andrew

Remarkable Jackson-era dinner invitation, along with guest's RSVP. 1p AM written in a secretarial hand on behalf of 7th U.S. President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845). Watermarked cream stationery with integral address leaf and remnants of red wax seal. In very good condition. Expected paper folds, including one brittle. Overall toning and chipped edges. Each page measures 4.875" x 7.75". Accompanied by John Boyle's letterpress RSVP on tissue paper dated May 31, 1831.

In late May 1831, President Jackson invited Acting Secretary of the Navy John Boyle to dinner: "The President requests the honor of Mr. Boyle's company to dinner on Saturday the 4h of June at 5 oclock [sic]. The favor of an answer is desd." President Jackson's future dinner guest replied: "John Boyle has the honour [sic] to present grateful respects to the President of the United States, and to accept the invitation to dinner on Saturday the 4th of June next".

Political fortune and social standing could be forged and destroyed at White House social events like this one. During the so-called Petticoat Affair of 1829-1831, 13th U.S. Secretary of War John Eaton and his wife Margaret O'Neill Eaton were ostracized by Jackson cabinet members and their wives upon suspicions of impropriety. Jackson's cabinet was polarized into pro- and anti-Eaton camps, and the President pressured most of his cabinet members to resign in the spring of 1831. Boyle's predecessor, 8th U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Branch (1782-1863), had resigned just two weeks prior in mid-May 1831. This dinner, scheduled in the scandal's immediate aftermath, was probably very interesting!

John Boyle (1777-1849) served for almost thirty years in the U.S. Department of the Navy. Boyle frequently served as Acting Secretary of the Navy although he never held the post officially. Boyle was also a friend of Andrew Jackson's.

Democrat Andrew Jackson, a popular ex-veteran and self-proclaimed champion of the "common man", served two terms in the White House between 1829-1837. Jackson had extensive military experience gained in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Creek War, the First Seminole War, and the Conquest of Florida. A trained lawyer, Jackson served as a Tennessee Congressman and Senator as well as Florida Military Governor before securing his White House bid.

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