<P> The BUS was launched in the midst of a major global market readjustment as Europe recovered from the Napoleonic Wars The central bank was charged with restraining uninhibited private bank note issue--already in progress--that threatened to create a credit bubble and the risks of a financial collapse . Government land sales in the West, fueled by European demand for agricultural products, ensured that a speculative bubble would form . Simultaneously, the national bank was engaged in promoting a democratized expansion of credit to accommodate laissez - faire impulses among eastern business entrepreneurs and credit hungry western and southern farmers . </P> <P> Under the management of the first BUS president William Jones, the bank failed to control paper money issued from its branch banks in the West and South, contributing to the post-war speculative land boom . When the U.S. markets collapsed in the Panic of 1819--a result of global economic adjustments--the central bank came under withering criticism for its belated tight money policies--policies that exacerbated mass unemployment and plunging property values . Further, it transpired that branch directors for the Baltimore office had engaged in fraud and larceny . </P> <P> Resigning in January 1819, Jones was replaced by Langdon Cheves who continued the contraction in credit in an effort to stop inflation and stabilize the bank, even as the economy began to correct . The central bank's reaction to the crisis--a clumsy expansion, then a sharp contraction of credit--indicated its weakness, not its strength . The effects were catastrophic, resulting in a protracted recession with mass unemployment and a sharp drop in property values that persisted until 1822 . The financial crisis raised doubts among the American public as to the efficacy of paper money, and in whose interests a national system of finance operated . Upon this widespread disaffection the anti-bank Jacksonian Democrats would mobilize opposition to the BUS in the 1830s . The national bank was in general disrepute among most Americans when Nicholas Biddle, the third and last president of the bank, was appointed by President James Monroe in 1823 . </P> <P> Under Biddle's guidance, the BUS evolved into a powerful banking institution that produced a strong and sound system of national credit and currency . From 1823 to 1833, Biddle expanded credit steadily, but with restraint, in a manner that served the needs of the expanding American economy . Albert Gallatin, former Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, wrote in 1831 that the BUS was fulfilling its charter expectations . </P>

Who assumed leadership of the second bank of the united states in 1823