What if Gerald Ford hadn't been confirmed as Vice President and Carl Albert had assumed office following Nixon's resignation?
Carl Albert did not want to be president. He also said that if he became president, he'd nominate a Republican and step down immediately because the country had elected a Republican in 1972.
Appointing a person President seems dubious and impractical.*
Anyways, what if Albert had opted to push for a Special Election in 1974 and serve as President for a few months until then?
Would Albert be Democratic nominee? Who would be the Republican nominee? Would this prevent 1974 from being such a Democratic year?
*It was peculiar enough historically that Ford became President despite nobody outside of his district voting for him. Going off of the succession act of 1947, the order is Vice President (Vacant), Speaker (Albert, a Democrat), Secretary of State (Kissinger, who is ineligible), Secretary of Treasury (George Schultz). I think the two best options would be Ford (Minority Leader, thus the GOP's roughest equivalent of Speaker I suppose) or George Schultz.