Truman's defense of Korean military action was premised on a pre‐existent rhetorical vision which accepted the potency of the victory theme. In the aftermath of the Chinese intervention, a new theme, premised on an objectively real military situation, emerged in the form of a rhetoric of limited warfare. The dismissal of MacArthur brought these competing themes, and the divergent social realities they depicted, into sharp relief and crystallized the paradox present in the President's rhetoric.