He then studied at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and in 1955 completed his first year at the LSU Law School.
An alumnus of the LSU Reserve Officer Training Corps program, he was called into active duty in the United States Air Force.
In 1972, voters elevated him to the state Senate for a single term, and he served alongside future Lieutenant Governor Paul J. Hardy of St. Martin Parish.
As a representative, Bauer was among sponsors of the 1971 law that created Acadiana as an official cultural and regional designation recognized by the state government.
The task force successfully argued that the upgrading of U.S. 90 to interstate standards would accommodate the south Louisiana energy industry and ease hurricane evacuation.
[4] A few months after he entered the state Senate, in which he served alongside Claude B. Duval of Houma, Bauer ran in an open election for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district for the seat vacated by fellow Democrat Patrick T. Caffery, who stepped down after only two terms in office.
He led the primary by 262 votes in an eight-candidate field, but he lost the runoff election to attorney and later Judge J. Louis Watkins Jr., of Houma in Terrebonne Parish.
[7] Watkins was then defeated in the 1972 general election by David C. Treen, then of Jefferson Parish, the first Republican in the 20th century to represent Louisiana in Congress.
He was affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America and was a long-term member and past board chairman of Goodwill Industries of Acadiana.