I'll go with your idea of Connally becoming VP. Who wins in 1976 if it's Connally vs. Jackson?
But Connally was indicted in 1974. That could throw a spanner in the mix.
In July 1974, Connally was indicted for allegedly pocketing $10,000 for influencing a
milk price decision by Texas lawyer Jake Jacobsen.
[33] At his April 1975 trial, he called as character witnesses former First Ladies
Jacqueline Kennedy,
Lady Bird Johnson, Texas Senator
Barbara Jordan (the first female, black state senator in Texas history),
Dean Rusk,
Robert McNamara, and
Billy Graham.
[34] According to a November 1979 profile by Paul Burka in
Texas Monthly magazine, "The case turned first on whether Connally would simultaneously be tried for perjury—some embarrassing inconsistencies had crept into his pretrial testimony—but his lawyer was able to prevent it, and then the issue came down to whether John Connally or Jake Jacobsen was telling the truth." On the strength of the defense's prominent character witnesses, Connally was acquitted.
[31]