The thing I find really interesting about Hamilton fics is how everyone seems to know about Burrs motto. I'm pretty sure that in the musical he only ever tells Hamilton. He tells Hamilton after Hamilton has talked about how similar they are and how much he admires Burr. When Burr does talk to other people he talks. Sounds dumb but listen. I sometimes feel like writing a whole essay on how Burr speaks because it's so fascinating. Take Right Hand Man. Burr meets Washington by addressing him by his rank. Not that weird but it's a sign of respect. In the first four lines Burr speaks to Washington he says sir three times. His very first line is Washington's title followed by sir. That's more than just being politite, that's buttering Washington up. Burr then explains who he is quickly and only keeping to the relevant topic. He doesn't talk about his family, just skips to his service. If we look at almost any other character they tend to lead with their real backstory, not just stuff the audience has never heard of before. Burr then compliments Washington which doesn't go down well. But that's beside the point, the point is that Burr has done all of this before saying what he wants to say. He never gets to say what he wants to say because Hamilton busts in. Burr's next line is subtly saying that he can help without undermining Washington's authority. "I have some questions," this Immediatly sets Burr up as naive or lacking in information. It places Washington in a position of power because he can answer Burrs questions. "A couple of suggestions of how to fight instead of fleeing west" this bit shows that Burr knows his shit. This is what he wants to talk about but he also realises that Washington is not going to listen to someone bursting in and ordering him to control the army differently. Instead, Burr makes himself seem quiet and smaller before he gives the information he knows Washington will want/ need. This is also really interesting because Burr is suggesting how to attack head on, which seems to be directly contrasting what he just said because he only said that to make Washington listen to him. When Hamilton enters Burr seems to realise that his time is up and so rather than push on he exits gracefully, once more giving power to Washington, repeating the word sir and saying "as I was saying" as if to create a sense of ease between them which is entirely weird seeing as the conversation was almost non existent from Washington's side. Burr then says "I look forward to seeing your strategy play out." This feels like hes saying that Washington will win anyway despite Burr not being able to explain. Throughout the whole meeting Burr is kind of grovelling and showing Washington that he is more powerful while at the same time believing that he has the better plan. You can also see how good Burr is at manipulating people during "Washington on your side" Madison and Jefferson get increasingly angry but Burr just talks about how it would be nice to have Washington on their side. He barely talks in the song but his repeating of that statement is what makes Jefferson and Madison furious. When they are angry he goes along with them but not on the line "southern motherfucking democratic republicans" as he only joins in for the last bit. He's not caught up in the anger or the frustration but he can understand it and use it to control two of the most powerful people at that time. TLDR? Burr is a master manipulator and he doesn't tell people how he does it, making him telling Hamilton about it all the more significant.
