Phil Batt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Phil Batt
Batt in 2010
29th Governor of Idaho
In office January 2, 1995 – January 4, 1999
Lieutenant	Butch Otter
Preceded by	Cecil Andrus
Succeeded by	Dirk Kempthorne
Chair of the Idaho Republican Party
In office 1991–1993
Preceded by	Randy Ayre
Succeeded by	N. Randy Smith
35th Lieutenant Governor of Idaho
In office January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1983
Governor	John Evans
Preceded by	William Murphy
Succeeded by	David Leroy
34th President pro tempore of the Idaho Senate
In office 1976–1978
Preceded by	James Ellsworth
Succeeded by	Reed Budge
Personal details
Born	Philip Eugene Batt (1927-03-04)March 4, 1927 Wilder, Idaho, U.S.
Died	March 4, 2023(2023-03-04) (aged 96)
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Jacque Fallis ​ ​ (m. 1948; died 2014)​ Francee Reilly ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	3
Education	University of Idaho (attended)
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1945–1946
Unit	Army Air Forces
Battles/wars	World War II

Philip Eugene Batt (March 4, 1927 – March 4, 2023) was an American politician who served as the 29th governor of Idaho from 1995 to 1999. Batt had previously served as the 35th lieutenant governor of Idaho, Chair of the Idaho Republican Party, and as a member of the Idaho Legislature. He was a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Born in Wilder, Idaho, Batt was the fifth and youngest child of John and Elizabeth Karn Batt. He graduated from Wilder High School. 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. (Half a century later as governor, Batt played with Lionel Hampton in Moscow, Idaho at the jazz legend's UI festival.)

Career

State offices

Before becoming governor, Batt had been a Republican politician in Idaho for thirty years, serving in the state legislature (house 1965–67, state senate 1967–79), and as the 35th lieutenant governor from 1979 to 1983. He ran for governor in 1982 and was defeated in a close race by the Democratic incumbent, John Evans. The election was so close that at least one television network declared Batt the winner on election night.

Batt returned to the state senate with victories in 1984 and 1986, then resigned in the spring of 1988 to sit on the three-member state transportation board, appointed by Governor Cecil Andrus.

Idaho Republican Party

Batt was elected chairman of the Idaho Republican Party in January 1991, and after a successful two years, he stepped aside in April 1993 to re-enter electoral politics in 1994. Batt had previously run for the post in 1968 and lost to Roland Wilber, 127 to 218.

Governor

Batt won the Republican gubernatorial primary in 1994 with 48% of the vote, and defeated state attorney general Larry EchoHawk in the general election 52% to 44%, for the first GOP victory for governor in 28 years. Despite high popularity, he chose to serve only one term, citing his age, and left office at age 71. Among Batt's more notable accomplishments as governor was pushing through worker's compensation for agricultural workers and negotiating a pact limiting nuclear waste storage in Idaho.

Later career

Batt was one of Idaho's presidential electors for George W. Bush during the 2000 United States presidential election.

Batt self-published two books since leaving office, a memoir titled The Compleat Phil Batt: A Kaleidoscope in 1999, and a compilation of humorous stories, Life as a Geezer, in 2003. Batt, who has a gay grandson who lives out of state, supported Add The Words.

Personal life

On January 9, 1948, in Potlatch, Idaho, Batt eloped with Jacque Fallis of Spokane, a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. 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. Though the young Batts initially hoped to return to college, economic circumstances changed their plans and they reluctantly did not.

Jacque Batt died on September 7, 2014, after 66 years of marriage. In 2015, at the age of 88, Batt married Francee Riley of Boise.

Batt died on March 4, 2023, the morning of his 96th birthday.

Election history