Changes

==Political career==

==Political career==

After college, Boucher was a [[United States Army]] Air Corps cadet for a year at March Field in [[Riverside]], [[California]]. From 1934 to 1936, he was a school principal and teacher at a one-room school in Taylor in south [[Arkansas]], an experience which prompted him as a future legislature to advocate higher teacher pay. He also sold patent medicine. While placing an advertisement in the [[newspaper]] in Minden, forerunner of the ''Minden Press-Herald],'' Boucher was urged by the editor to run for the Webster Parish seat in the state legislature in the 1935–1936 election cycle. Days later, the legendary [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], was dead from an assassin’s bullets, and Boucher, at the age of twenty-eight, several months thereafter won the House seat. He had visited nearly every home in Webster Parish to achieve his relatively narrow victory<ref name=autob/> over the incumbent Eddie Nuton Payne (1873-1951), also of Springhill, 2,778 to 2,474.<ref>"Boucher, Garrison, Thomas Nominated: Young Politician Is Victorious in Race for Representative," ''Minden Herald,'' March 6, 1936, p. 1.</ref>​

After college, Boucher was a [[United States Army]] Air Corps cadet for a year at March Field in [[Riverside]], [[California]]. From 1934 to 1936, he was a school principal and teacher at a one-room school in Taylor in south [[Arkansas]], an experience which prompted him as a future legislature to advocate higher teacher pay. He also sold patent medicine.  

 

While placing an advertisement in the [[newspaper]] in Minden, forerunner of the ''Minden Press-Herald],'' Boucher was urged by the editor to run for the Webster Parish seat in the state legislature in the 1935–1936 election cycle. Days later, the legendary [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], was dead from an assassin’s bullets, and Boucher, at the age of twenty-eight, several months thereafter won the House seat. He had visited nearly every home in Webster Parish to achieve his relatively narrow victory<ref name=autob/> over the incumbent Eddie Nuton Payne (1873-1951), also of Springhill, 2,778 to 2,474.<ref>"Boucher, Garrison, Thomas Nominated: Young Politician Is Victorious in Race for Representative," ''Minden Herald,'' March 6, 1936, p. 1.</ref>

In September 1940, freshman state Senator Boucher urged newly-elected anti-Long Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]] to call a special legislative session to repeal many of the “reform” measures passed earlier in the year. The remark was carried in newspaper] nationally.<ref>”Hot Election Forecast for Louisiana Demo Primary," ''St. Petersburg Times,'' St. Petersburg, [[Florida]], September 9, 1940, p. 3.</ref> In 1946, Boucher proposed in a letter to Governor [[Jimmie Davis]] the enactment of a 10 percent amusements tax, including theater tickets, in Louisiana to finance teacher pay increases, a proposal carried in the motion picture trade [[magazine]], ''BoxOffice.''<ref name=boxoffice>"Amusement Tax Bill Bobs up in Louisiana," ''BoxOffice,'' June 24, 1946, p. 84.</ref>​

In September 1940, freshman state Senator Boucher urged newly-elected anti-Long Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]] to call a special legislative session to repeal many of the “reform” measures passed earlier in the year. The remark was carried in newspaper] nationally.<ref>”Hot Election Forecast for Louisiana Demo Primary," ''St. Petersburg Times,'' St. Petersburg, [[Florida]], September 9, 1940, p. 3.</ref> In 1946, Boucher proposed in a letter to Governor [[Jimmie Davis]] the enactment of a 10 percent amusements tax, including theater tickets, in Louisiana to finance teacher pay increases, a proposal carried in the motion picture trade [[magazine]], ''BoxOffice.''<ref name=boxoffice>"Amusement Tax Bill Bobs up in Louisiana," ''BoxOffice,'' June 24, 1946, p. 84.</ref>​

In 1950, Boucher joined State Representative Clyde W. Thompson (1890-1951) to move through the legislature a $175,000 appropriation to establish a vocational school in Webster Parish, one of the pledges of the 1948 Earl Long gubernatorial campaign.<ref>"Thompson, Boucher Working for Trade School in Webster," ''Minden Herald,'' May 26, 1950, p. 1.</ref> Now known as Northwest Louisiana Technical College, the institution was first established adjacent to the Griffith Stadium baseball park on Constable Street in Minden but was relocated in 2013 to a new site off Interstate 20.​

In 1950, Boucher joined State Representative Clyde W. Thompson (1890-1951) to move through the legislature a $175,000 appropriation to establish a vocational school in Webster Parish, one of the pledges of the 1948 Earl Long gubernatorial campaign.<ref>"Thompson, Boucher Working for Trade School in Webster," ''Minden Herald,'' May 26, 1950, p. 1.</ref> Now known as Northwest Louisiana Technical College, the institution was first established adjacent to the Griffith Stadium baseball park on Constable Street in Minden but was relocated in 2013 to a new site off Interstate 20.​

Boucher did not seek a fourth term in 1952 and was succeeded in the state senate by John Jones Doles, Sr. (1895-1970), a banker from Plain Dealing in Bossier Parish, who served from 1952 to 1956 during the administration of Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]] of Minden. Doles was usually allied with the Long faction. From 1956 to 1960, Boucher was a member of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was an alternate delegate to the 1956 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], which nominated [[Adlai Stevenson]] of [[Illinois]] and [[Estes Kefauver]] of [[Tennessee]], the first Democratic ticket since 1876 to lose Louisiana's then ten [[electoral vote]]s to a Republican, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bosa-bouckaert.html|title=The Political Graveyard|publisher=Politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=June 23, 2009}}</ref> Boucher served on the Louisiana State Mineral Board (1956–1958), the Louisiana Commission on Aging (1958), Louisiana Insurance Rating Board (1959–1960), and the Louisiana Contractors’ Licensing Board (1960–1963).<ref name=bobit/>

Boucher did not seek a fourth term in 1952 and was succeeded in the state senate by John Jones Doles, Sr. (1895-1970), a banker from Plain Dealing in Bossier Parish, who served from 1952 to 1956 during the administration of Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]] of Minden. Doles was usually allied with the Long faction. From 1956 to 1960, Boucher was a member of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was an alternate delegate to the 1956 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], which nominated [[Adlai Stevenson]] of [[Illinois]] and [[Estes Kefauver]] of [[Tennessee]], the first Democratic ticket since 1876 to lose Louisiana's then ten [[electoral vote]]s to a Republican, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bosa-bouckaert.html|title=The Political Graveyard|publisher=Politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=June 23, 2009}}</ref> Boucher served on the Louisiana State Mineral Board (1956–1958), the Louisiana Commission on Aging (1958), Louisiana Insurance Rating Board (1959–1960), and the Louisiana Contractors’ Licensing Board (1960–1963).<ref name=bobit/>

In the 1959 Democratic primary when Boucher declined to run for voting machine custodian, he was instead an unsuccessful candidate from Webster Parish for a seat on  the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was defeated by a 4-3 margin by the dairyman, Roy Don Hinton, Sr. (1912-2011), of Minden.<ref>"Hinton Wins Seat on State Central Committee," ''Minden Press,'' December 7, 1959, p. 1.</ref>

In the 1959 Democratic primary when Boucher declined to run for voting machine custodian, he was instead an unsuccessful candidate from Webster Parish for a seat on  the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was defeated by a 4-3 margin by the dairyman, Roy Don Hinton, Sr. (1912-2011), of Minden.<ref>"Hinton Wins Seat on State Central Committee," ''Minden Press,'' December 7, 1959, p. 1.</ref>

==Business and civic activities==​

==Business and civic activities==

 

After his political career, Boucher remained in Baton Rouge and attended the [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center though he never procured legal credentials. Instead, he concentrated on Drayton Boucher Real Estate and his Evelyn Corporation, named for his second wife. He was also a partner in Acadian Oil and Gas in [[Lafayette]]. Boucher was an active member of the Masonic lodge. As a Shriner, he was active in fundraising for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. He was an active member of the Jefferson [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church in Baton Rouge.<ref name=bobit>Boucher obituary, ''The Shreveport Times,'' June 5, 1983.</ref>​

On exiting politics, Boucher remained in Baton Rouge and attended the [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center though he never procured legal credentials. Instead, he concentrated on Drayton Boucher Real Estate and his Evelyn Corporation, named for his second wife. He was also a partner in Acadian Oil and Gas in [[Lafayette]]. Boucher was an active member of the Masonic lodge. As a Shriner, he was active in fundraising for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. He was an active member of the Jefferson [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church in Baton Rouge.<ref name=bobit>Boucher obituary, ''The Shreveport Times,'' June 5, 1983.</ref>​

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==Two marriages==

==Two marriages==