Final answer:
President Nixon's conservative civil rights policy is exemplified by his administration supporting the slowdown of school desegregation in Mississippi, opposition to busing, and attempts to overhaul the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While generally conservative, Nixon did support certain measures like affirmative action to increase opportunities for racial minorities.
Step-by-step explanation:
Conservative Civil Rights Policies under Nixon
One example of President Nixon's conservative policy towards Civil Rights was seen in his administration's approach to school desegregation. In 1969, the federal government, under Nixon, sided with the state of Mississippi to slow down desegregation in schools, marking a clear shift from previous federal efforts to enforce integration. Additionally, Nixon was firmly against busing as a method of achieving racial desegregation in public schools. He viewed such measures as detrimental to his party's political interests and aimed to alter the Voting Rights Act of 1965. However, Nixon's conservative stance coexisted with more moderate and supportive policies in some areas, such as economic ones, where he expanded affirmative action, which aimed to increase employment and educational opportunities for racial minorities.
His political maneuvers included the Southern Strategy, aimed at gaining support from former segregationist voters in the South. This involved opposition to busing and affirmative action, which proved to be successful for him in the Southern states during elections. Nonetheless, Nixon also pursued some civil rights positives, such as affirmative action, which matched with his broader political agenda, despite representing only a small fraction of his policy commitments on race and equality.