Clayton Boudreau was raised in New Orleans and though he aspired to be a jazz musician, he gave it up to pursue a teaching career. In late 2001, Clayton, now Dean of Students at Springfield University, helped Ross Marler to get a job as a law professor at the University. Clayton was a man who demanded excellence from everyone around him. A good man, he was, nonetheless, a demanding teacher who expected his students to work their hardest. As hard as Clayton was on his students, he was doubly hard on his children. Though his daughter, Mel, was able to live with her father's expectations, his son Remy chafed under Clayton's watchful eye and distanced himself from him. Though Felicia asked Clayton to be more lenient on his son, Clayton didn't listen. Though Clayton wanted Remy to pursue a football career and give up his hobby of music, his hopes were destroyed when Remy got injured during a workout was forced to walk on crutches. Clayton went as far as to accuse Remy of getting injured intentionally so that he could spend more time on music.

Later, Remy gave Clayton his birthday present early--a CD of Clayton's favorite Jazz songs. Unfortunately, Clayton misinterpreted everything and believed that Remy gave him the CD to change his mind about Remy's music interest. Later, one day, Remy took a look at old Jazz CD's and was surprised to find Clayton's name on one of the albums of Dizzy Gillespie. Remy confronted his father and Clayton had to confess that he had played music with Dizzy in the 70s. Clayton asked Remy to keep his secret, especially from Felicia, and Remy agreed. Regarding Mel, Clayton was happy that she had decided to pursue a medical career but he urged her not to neglect her social life.

In 2002, Clayton noticed Mel's interest in Dr. Rick Bauer and eventually the two decided to marry. At this time, Clayton tried to fix Mel up with one of his former students, Ashton, so that she would forget about Rick but he only succeeded in angering his daughter, Mel had an impossible time with Clayton, who delivered a sobering lecture on the difficulties she'd face as the wife of a white man. Eventually Felicia convinced him to accept the relationship and, because he loved his daughter, Clayton gave his blessing.

In 2003, Clayton found himself with a protest on his hands. Throughout the year, students would tune in to hear school dj Sandy Foster and his partner, the mole, discuss the newsworthy events of Springfield. Shock jocks, Sandy acted as straight man to the mole's blatant insults. And no event was sacred, from Reva Lewis's stalking to the serial killings connected to the Garden of Eden Escort Service. Though most adults found the pair's brand of irreverent humor to be crude, many of the teens found it amusing. Finally, having had enough of the irreverent humor, Clayton yanked them from the airwaves. Believing that Sandy and the Mole had a right to speak their minds, Marah Lewis encouraged Sandy and other students to protest on a billboard on campus. Although Marah and Sandy were the only ones who stayed on the billboard overnight, the plan worked and the show was allowed to go on. After that, Clayton led a secluded life and, along with his family, celebrated the birth of Leah in March 2004.

In early 2006, renowned trouble maker Jonathan Randall pleaded with Clayton to lift Tammy Winslow's expulsion after she had been arrested for arson (the charges wound up being dropped). Although Clayton refused to listen to the pushy, almost threatening, Jonathan, he relented when asked by Sandy and even awarded Sandy with a job.

In 2008, the Boudreaus were thrown for a loop when Remy announced the birth of his son by Ava Peralta who was married to Bill Lewis. Remy informed his parents that neither he nor Ava knew that she was pregnant with his child and Remy announced his plans to get custody. Though stunned, Felicia and Clayton wholly supported Remy, who stated that he planned on renaming the baby Clayton. Sadly, the baby, who was born very premature, died shortly after birth. Afterwards, Clayton tried to offer support but Remy was uninterested. Seeing how Remy was hurting, Clayton was able to get him to release some of his anger and Remy broke down in his father's arms. Not long after, Harley Cooper's house had gone on the market and Clayton got the idea to buy it for his kids. Though neither Remy nor Mel was excited about the prospect, Felicia was unable to talk Clayton out of his idea. At about the same time, Felicia saw a book on how to study for the MCAT's and realized that Remy was studying to become a doctor. Though he asked his mother to keep it a secret, an excited Felicia couldn't.

Later, Felicia noticed that while her children weren't too interested in the Cooper house, AC Mallet and Marina Cooper liked it. After overhearing Mel tell Mallet she might sell him the house one day, Felicia announced that they had a change of heart and would not be buying the house. Weeks later, Remy's new friend, Christina, was asked to join the Boudreaus for dinner to Remy's dismay. Christina took Remy's attitude the wrong way and blurted out that they married after a drunken spree. After Christina ran out, Felicia told Remy to go after her. Felicia saw the chemistry between the pair and agreed with Mel that them staying married might not be a bad thing.

In 2009, Clayton placed his entire life savings in a group called Independence Fund International. Unfortunately, trouble loomed when Clayton was unable to access his account. At the same time, Remy asked Clayton for a loan to help out Christina. At that point, Clayton was forced to admit his financial problems to his son and asked him to keep the news from Felicia since Clayton was too embarrassed. Several weeks later, Clayton discovered that he lost all of his money and confided in Remy that there was a danger of him losing everything since the bank was demanding money that Clayton did not have. Afterwards, Clayton learned that Remy took care of his financial problems.