[2] Batt served sixteen months in the United States Army Air Forces during and after World War II at Lowry Field, Colorado, working as a clerk discharging veterans.

He then returned to the University of Idaho and studied chemical engineering, lived in the dorms, and led a dance band, playing clarinet and tenor saxophone.

[3][4][5] (Half a century later as governor, Batt played with Lionel Hampton in Moscow, Idaho at the jazz legend's UI festival.

[12] Batt was elected chairman of the Idaho Republican Party in January 1991,[13] and after a successful two years, he stepped aside in April 1993 to re-enter electoral politics in 1994.

[25] The newlyweds had to leave school a month later when Batt's 66-year-old father was involved in a serious automobile accident which left him with limited strength and speech.