Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle was the son of a Philadelphia banker. At age thirteen he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, but because of his youth was denied his diploma. At fifteen he was valedictorian of his class, 1801, at Princeton. At age eighteen, as secretary to the American Minister to France, he helped in important financial details of the Louisiana Purchase. Later, he edited the journals of Lewis and Clark and founded the Magazine called the Port-folio. While serving in the Pennsylvania legislator Biddle acquired a sophisticated understanding of the operation of the Bank of the United States. Not that he was interested in banking but he was fascinated in them as a function of the economy. Later when he failed to win election to congress, James Manroe friend and now President of the United States (see Biddle to Monroe) appointed Biddle to the Bank’s board of directors. There he soon gained the repartition of being the most articulate, brightest and best informed member of the board. When Langdon Cheves resigned as Bank president in 1823 the obvious choice to succeed was Biddle. On January 7, 1823 Biddle at age 34 became president to the biggest corporation in the United States.
Biddle was the best thing that ever happened to the bank. Biddle was not a money grubbing banker like so many of his contemporaries. He was man who could bring liberal habit of thinking to the bank’s operations. He was a brilliant administrator who had genuine comprehension of the subtleties of banking. But most importantly he was energetic, aggressive and intelligent. He transformed what was a nation wide branch banking system acting as a federal fiscal agent into a bona-fide central bank.