Battle worked in his father's law firm, as well as helped his father win election as Governor of Virginia in 1950. During the
Massive Resistance crisis, both Battles represented the Albemarle County Public Schools, who were being sued by the
NAACP on behalf of parents who wanted their children to attend integrated schools. After joint decisions of the
Virginia Supreme Court and three-judge federal panel on January 19, 1959, undercut the Massive Resistance laws, known as the Stanley Plan (which, among other provisions, proposed closing any public school acceding to a court desegregation order), Battle ultimately negotiated a settlement with the NAACP, and Charlottesville public schools reopened. The younger Battle later worked on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign and was appointed Ambassador to Australia, serving from 1962 to 1964. In
1969, in an election that became known for the crumbling of the Massive Resistance and the
Byrd Organization, Battle, the Democrats' gubernatorial candidate, lost to
Linwood Holton. Holton who later put his children in Richmond's mostly African-American public schools, became the first Republican governor of the Commonwealth since the end of the
Reconstruction Era. Battle later became president and CEO of
Fieldcrest Mills, a
textile manufacturer, where he served as president from 1971 to 1981. In 1978, Battle was elected to the executive committee of the
United States Golf Association where he served until 1989. He served as USGA President from 1988 to 1989. He was also president of the Mid-Atlantic Golf Association in 1953. ==Personal life and death==