[3] In 2024 he took part in a musical project called "Ein offenes Herz" by electronic musician Thomas Albertsen (Globotom) reciting quotes from Johann Wolfgang v. Goethe's novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther".

[4] When Koch announced his withdrawal from the political scene and resigned in August 2010,[5] he nominated Bouffier as his successor to lead the center-right CDU-FDP government that was formed after the 2009 state elections.

In 2010, Bouffier was elected vice chairman of the CDU and has since been serving in the party's national leadership under successive chairwomen Angela Merkel (2012–2018) and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (since 2018).

[6] Under Bouffier's leadership, Hesse joined forces with Bavaria in early 2013 to launch a constitutional challenge to the Germany's system of tax transfers in order to stop subsidising spending in the city of Berlin, the national capital, and all the poorer states.

On the federal level, he was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by Merkel, Horst Seehofer and Sigmar Gabriel in the negotiations to form a coalition government.

[10] Ahead of the 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election, Bouffier publicly opposed Friedrich Merz as candidate to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party's chair.

[26] In 2024, he took part in a musical project called “Ein offenes Herz” by electronic musician Thomas Albertsen (Globotom), reciting quotes from Johann Wolfgang v. Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.