The Lost Cause tradition and its preservation motivated Nixon because it was rooted in agrarian principles that had been a part of his life from an early age. For Nixon, the Old South encompassed a majestic time and place of gallantry, chivalry, conviction, and patriotism. From his community’s elders, he learned of an idealized South occupied by men and women of strength and fortitude who “felled the forest, dotted the hills and vales with beautiful homes, made a wilderness blossom as a rose, and developed a civilization distinguished for culture and refinement.” These ideals were part of the Civil War and were carried by the committed men who fought to preserve states’ rights. Nixon took pride and pleasure in addressing large groups at dedications, funeral services, and Lee-Jackson banquets on the urgency of preserving the remnants of a dying generation, and erecting monuments and memorials that would serve to “remind succeeding generations of our love and reverence for the followers of Lee and Jackson,” and “perpetuate to the most distant time the name and service, the valor and patriotism of each Lincoln County soldier.” Coming of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Nixon took an interest in the Lost Cause, specifically the soldiers from Lincoln County who fought to preserve states’ rights and economic, political, and economic values of the Old South. He attended programs, presentations, and commencement exercises in the region that spotlighted the Civil War, the legacy of the Lost Cause, and the sacrifices made by the men and women of the South. While at the commencement of Davidson College on Tuesday, June 28, 1877, Nixon heard an evening speech from D.G. Fowle, L.L.D., on the subject of “North Carolina during and since the War.” From this and other programs about the Old South and the Civil War, Nixon gained a perspective about his homeland that he would carry throughout his life. Nixon viewed the events of the past, as did many of his generation, with a genuine nationalistic reverence and a desire to commemorate the South’s losses, but with a yearning and insatiable need to politically and socially redeem their homeland.