Who was unanimously elected the first president of the First Continental Congress?

Peyton Randolph was unanimously elected the first president of the First Continental Congress.

The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, in response to the British Parliament’s Intolerable Acts. Delegates from twelve colonies attended; Georgia initially did not participate. Randolph, a prominent Virginia politician, was chosen to preside over the gathering.

The office was a presiding role rather than the presidency of the later United States. Congress had no executive branch or national president at this stage. Randolph helped guide debates as delegates considered colonial rights, economic resistance, and a petition to King George III.

Randolph also briefly served as president of the Second Continental Congress in May 1775, but illness forced him to leave Philadelphia after only a few days. John Hancock succeeded him. Randolph died in October 1775, before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.