bguy
Donor
Before we get to YK and the oil embargo, we have Chile and Wade V Roe to consider. As for the oild embargo - its very hard too see what else could have been done; what are your options ?
There is also the vexed question of busing. Which will be one of if not the dominant issue in the 1972 election.
OTL there was an attempt in 1972 to strip the federal courts of jursidiction in busing cases. IIRC it failed by a single vote in the Senate. Here depending on how the Senate races shake out in '68 and '70, there may be enough votes to pass such a bill (though there won't be enough to overcome a presidential veto.) But regardless of if the legislation dies in Congress or gets vetoed by the president, Reagan will almost certainly campaign on enacting strong anti-busing legislation and will probably have the votes needed to enact it once he is elected.
The long term consequences of setting a precedent that it is ok to take certain issues away from the federal courts will be interesting. Since a Humphrey selected Supreme Court will have a super-majority of activist liberal justices, conservatives will probably soon see the jurisdiction removal option as their only way to reign in an out of control court and will try to use it again on other issues like abortion, obscenity and capital punishment. The battles with the Supreme Court will likely be the dominant domestic issue of Reagan's presidency here.