[7] He spent a year in law school and then went on active duty with the U.S. Army,[8] as an officer in the military police in New Jersey and South Korea.

[9] He ran for the congressional seat in 1972 that Jim McClure was vacating for the U.S. Senate, but lost in the Republican primary to Steve Symms and returned private legal practice for several years.

[8][10] He served one four-year term and considered a run for governor in 1978,[11] but withdrew from the race in August 1977;[12][13] he returned campaign donations, telling Idaho voters that he was taking a sabbatical to travel with his family.

[8][11] Kidwell tried again for the congressional seat in 1980 vacated by Symms,[14][15] but lost the primary to state senator Larry Craig,[16][17] and then moved his family to Hawaii.

[4][8][18] Four years later, Kidwell ran again for an open seat and won a three-way race in May and the run-off in November;[8][19][20] he was the second in Idaho history to win elections in all three branches of state government (after former Chief Justice Allan Shepard), and was sworn in on January 4, 1999.