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As President of the Bank of the United StatesThe bank was first chartered in 1816 and was essentially a private corporation., Nicholas Biddle viciously sparred with President Jackson over the function and power of the Bank. Jackson saw banks and paper money as potential threats to the American people. Biddle, on the other hand, believed that a strong central bank could regulate the economy and increase American prosperity. The feud led Jackson to veto the Bank's bid for re-charter in 1832, stripping it of its power. His decision to withdraw the federal government's funds from it in 1833 eventually caused the Bank to collapse.
Before becoming President of the United States Bank, Nicholas Biddle had a long political resume. He had been secretary to the American foreign ministers to France and Great Britain, practiced law in Philadelphia, and served in the Pennsylvania House and Senate. In 1819, he was appointed as one of five government directors of the Bank of the United States, becoming its president in 1823. Biddle was an able president, and his fiscal policies strengthened the bank and the American economy after the Panic of 1819Brief recession that followed the economic growth spurred by the War of 1812..
After Jackson won the dispute and the Bank of the United States collapsed, Biddle became president of the Bank of Pennsylvania. He retired in 1839.
