A native of Bethesda, Maryland, Richard A. Boucher served as he Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs from February 21, 2006, until May 25, 2009. Boucher obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1973 from Tufts University and did graduate work in economics at George Washington University. He speaks French and Chinese.

 

A career Foreign Service Officer, Boucher entered the Foreign Service in 1977. His early tours were in Taiwan; Guangzhou, China; the State Department’s Economic Bureau; and on the China Desk. He returned to China from 1984 to 1986 as deputy principal officer at the US Consulate General in Shanghai. Returning to Washington in July 1986, he served in the State Department’s Operations Center and as the deputy director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs.

 

Boucher served as the State Department’s deputy spokesman under Secretary James Baker starting in 1989 and became the spokesman for Secretary Lawrence Eagleburger in August of 1992 and for Secretary Warren Christopher until June of 1993.

 

From October 1993 to June 1996, Boucher served as US Ambassador to Cyprus and from 1996 to 1999 he headed the US Consulate General in Hong Kong as the consul general. He led US efforts as the US Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) from July 1999 to April 2000.

 

Boucher began his most recent tenure as spokesman for the State Department in May of 2000 under Secretary Madeleine Albright and continued as spokesman throughout the tenure of Secretary Colin Powell and for Secretary Condoleezza Rice until June of 2005. In 2005, Boucher became the longest-serving Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the Department of State’s history.