He worked in various businesses, including his family-owned Temple Industries from 1964 to 1966, when he ran Exeter Investment Company as Vice-President, President, and chairman from 1968 to 1982, and, again, from 1986 to 2002.

In 1972, he was elected to the District 6 seat in the Texas House and served from 1973 to 1981 from Angelina, Newton, Shelby, and San Augustine counties.

Representative Temple co-sponsored the 1973 State Code of Ethics, with financial disclosure for elected and appointed officials, an issue highlighted by the Sharpstown banking scandal of 1971.

[4] Ellen Temple, a former educator and free-lance writer, was a regent of the University of Texas System under the administration of former Governor Ann Richards.

[6] In 1992, Buddy and Ellen Temple purchased a ranch near Freer in Duval County east of Laredo, Texas.