When George Washington was a young boy, he had dreams of the seas, not dreams of the farm. But today, he said, nothing gives him greater pleasure than the fruits of his farm. While in Iowa, he visited a farm where they raised sheep and pork and noted that until he came to Iowa, he had never heard of soybeans. On his land he grows wheat, buckwheat and rye and has a successful fishery.

Ok, you may think I’ve had some strange brew but our nation’s first President, George Washington, spoke with crowds this morning to kick off the Presidential Soapbox series hosted by the Des Moines Register. Washington was portrayed by Ron Carnegie and to be honest, I’m not sure if he really did visit that farm either in “character” or as himself. Regardless, he had some good advice as Americans begin to get serious about electing the next president.

Washington said there were several key areas that should be considered when choosing his replacement (aka candidate) including the nation must have a sacred regard for public justice and an elected representative should not being saying yes when he/she should be saying no. He noted that the young generation will soon be running this country, and America must make good on its promises.

When asked if he supported one candidate, Washington replied, “I have no intention of speaking in favor of any candidate. Influence is not good government. The greatest requirement is the approbation of the people of our country. That’s the candidate that should be elected president.”

So which candidate(s) meet our nation’s first president’s merits? That’s for Americans to decide. To stick with “fair” language, we’ll be bringing you tasty tidbits from each candidates. All but Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are expected to take the soapbox over the next 10 days. The Des Moines Register is livestreaming all candidates and you can access all their news coverage here.