I Know Him

In the stage production King George enters the stage as Washington finishes up “One Last Time.” There is a long, suspicious stare-down between them while George enters and Washington leaves.

The opening lyric mirrors those of “You’ll Be Back” and “What Comes Next?” Among all of the evolving motifs and dynamic characters, King George is a dependable constant.

Washington stepped away from power twice in his life, first at the end of the Revolutionary war, and then again after two terms as President.

His stepping aside got him compared to the ancient Roman consul Cincinnatus who willingly gave up power, came back in an emergency, and then gave up power again.

A famous statue by Horatio Greenough simultaneously shows power (Washington as Zeus) and the turning over of power (Washington giving his sword hilt to the viewer).

Reputedly, George III asked his American painter what Washington would do after the end of the Revolutionary War. When told he would return to his farm, the king answered “if he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

George III was in fact aware that yielding power and stepping away was something a person could do. The loss of the American War of Independence prompted the king to draft a letter of abdication, though he was persuaded to remain on the throne and allow peace negotiations to proceed.

George III would also twice have to surrender his own power, for reasons of mental illness. Though the king recognized the need for the 1789 Regency Bill, he objected to a subsequent Act being passed while he was of sound mind. Parliament nonetheless passed the Regency Act when he again became incapacitated in 1811; his son, the future George IV, took over royal duties as Prince Regent until the king’s death in 1820.

Yes, they would. In response to the question, “What is most important of this grand experiment, the United States?”, George Washington responded:

Not the election of the first president, but the election of its second president. The peaceful transfer of power is what will separate our country from every other country in the world.

Since The Election of 1800 (when the leadership officially switched parties from Federalist to Democratic Republican), the U.S. has had an unblemished period of peaceful transfers of power, among the longest in the world, (until 2021 with the capital insurrection and baseless claims of voter fraud.)

King George is referring to Washington’s importance in American politics, but there’s also a more literal meaning: at 6'2, Washington was one of America’s tallest presidents, while Adams, 5'7, was one of America’s shortest (James Madison the actual shortest, at 5'4).

This can also be interpreted as a reference to the Washington Monument. For five years (1884 until 1889), it was the tallest building in the world. It remains the tallest stone structure in the world, as well as the tallest building (excluding radio towers) in the US capital – and will continue to be this thanks to the Heights of Buildings Act of 1910.

In the staging, King George air quotes “country" to show that he doesn’t acknowledge The United States as a real nation.

On stage, a British soldier leans over to King George and delivers the news that John Adams has become president. King George exclaims “What?!” in disbelief and the soldier has to repeat the news.

A reference to John Adams' 1785 audience with King George III while Adams served as ambassador.

How it happened, supposedly:
https://youtu.be/2YHl_0P2EJ4

“Little guy” is another dig at Adams' height. Even John Adams’s presidential portrait portrays him as short. Seriously, John Trumbull, you put the president in the bottom 2/3 of his portrait? That’s some serious shade.

However, Adams is not the shortest US President in history. That distinction belongs to James Madison.

George III portrays America as a very young nation, but in a way that degrades and infantalizes it as primitive and savage. He continues to deliver this thought with the line “they will tear each other into pieces” later in the song. He both portrays Adams as weak in comparison to Washington, and as a man who is in real danger from the very nation he’s trying to lead.

…He’s not wrong.

King George loves to remind the (largely American) audience of the British Empire’s survival across eras.

At 6' 2", Washington was one of the tallest presidents in U.S. history, and especially tall for the time.

The antecedent for “they” is presumably the other American leaders, and they’re both shrimpy little short dudes and not as magnificent and stately as Washington. However, if you want to interpret King George as particularly melodramatic, you can take “they” as referring to empires – a great empire of conquest and colonialism is a lesser achievement in history compared to a popular elected president voluntarily giving up power.

King George also said “All alone” at the end of What Comes Next?. This further connects the very similar but very different songs.

There was a real risk of the US breaking up. Washington had to put down a rebellion in Pennsylvania, and many people thought that the country wouldn’t make it without the universally respected leadership of Washington.

It took a while, but eventually the the US did come to blows.

This line also denotes splitting into political parties, which Washington warned against in his farewell address during “One Last Time”.

The king has a touch of the maniacal here as he continues to sing this riff loudly and then cackles gleefully at the end. A nice musical metaphor for the monarch’s encroaching madness.

Jonathan Groff’s delicious cackle right before this line could be a reference to Amadeus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkaDRvFYoZA

As with the use of air quotes for “country” earlier. King George continues to show he doesn’t think much of John Adams as a leader.

At the end of this song, King George III takes a prominent seat on a velvet-covered stool stage right. He’s there to watch the mess go down, exiting before the end of “The Adams Administration.”