Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844), American diplomat and financier, born in Philadelphia. He was a member of the American legation in France that settled spoliation claims rising from the Napoleonic Wars. He remained in Europe for three years to study and travel and returned home in 1807. He later became a contributor to Port Folio, a leading literary journal, which he edited after 1812. Biddle served one term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In 1819 President James Monroe appointed him one of the directors of the Second Bank of the United States. He became president of the bank in 1822 and embarked on a successful program to stabilize the currency. He tried unsuccessfully to gain a new federal charter for the bank, but in 1836 he secured a state charter and the bank was thereafter known as the Bank of the United States of Pennsylvania. Biddle resigned as president of the bank in 1839. In retirement, he helped establish Girard College in Philadelphia. His Greek Revival country manor Andalusia is now a historic house museum open to the public.