Editing Nicholas Biddle (section)

{{Short description|American financier and banker}}
{{About|the banker|other people|Nicholas Biddle (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Nicholas Biddle
| image               = Nicholas Biddle by William Inman.jpg
| caption             = Portrait by [[William Inman]], c. 1830s
| office              = President of the [[Second Bank of the United States]]
| president           = [[James Monroe]]<br/>[[John Quincy Adams]]<br/>[[Andrew Jackson]]
| term_start          = January 6, 1823
| term_end            = March 3, 1836
| predecessor         = [[Langdon Cheves]]
| successor           = Position abolished
| state_senate2       = Pennsylvania State
| district2           = [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 1|1st]]
| term_start2         = December 7, 1813
| term_end2           = December 5, 1815
| predecessor2        = [[John Barclay (mayor)|John Barclay]]
| successor2          = William Maghee
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1786|1|8}}
| birth_place         = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], US
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1844|2|27|1786|1|8}}
| death_place         = [[Andalusia (estate)|Andalusia]], [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Bucks County]], Pennsylvania, US
| party               = [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Jane Craig|1811}}
| children            = 6, including [[Charles John Biddle|Charles]]
| parents             = [[Charles Biddle|Charles]] and Hannah Biddle
| relatives           = ''See'' [[Biddle family]]
| education           = [[University of Pennsylvania]]<br/>[[Princeton University|College of New Jersey]]
| signature           = Appletons' Biddle Nicholas financier signature.png
}}
'''Nicholas Biddle''' (January 8, 1786{{spnd}}February 27, 1844) was an American [[financier]] who served as the third and last president of the [[Second Bank of the United States]] (chartered 1816–1836).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://economic-historian.com/2021/02/nicholas-biddle/ |title=Nicholas Biddle |last=Campbell |first=Stephen W. |date=February 1, 2021 |website=The Economic Historian |access-date=May 14, 2021}}</ref> Throughout his life Biddle worked as an editor, diplomat, author, and politician who served in both houses of the Pennsylvania state legislature. He is best known as the chief opponent of [[Andrew Jackson]] in the [[Bank War]].

Born into the [[Biddle family]] of [[Philadelphia]], young Nicholas worked for a number of prominent officials, including [[John Armstrong Jr.]] and [[James Monroe]]. In the Pennsylvania state legislature, he defended the utility of a national bank in the face of Jeffersonian criticisms. From 1823 to 1836, Biddle served as president of the Second Bank, during which time he exercised power over the nation's money supply and interest rates, seeking to prevent economic crises.{{sfn|Hammond|1957|pp=302-310}}{{sfn|Govan|1959|pp=88-99}}{{sfn|Knodell|2016|pp=2-4}}

With prodding from [[Henry Clay]] and the Bank's major stockholders, Biddle engineered a bill in Congress to renew the Bank's federal charter in 1832. The bill passed Congress and headed to President Andrew Jackson's desk. Jackson, who expressed deep hostility to most banks, vetoed the measure, ratcheting up tensions in a major political controversy known as the Bank War.{{sfn|Campbell|2019|p=63-92}} When Jackson transferred the federal government's deposits from the Second Bank to several state banks, Biddle raised interest rates, causing a mild economic recession. The federal charter expired in 1836, before the [[Panic of 1837]], but the bank continued to operate with a Pennsylvania state charter until its ultimate collapse in 1841.