Because of his strange behavior and the infighting after his death, he had received a bad reputation but the currently accepted theory is that he was able to hold on to the position of Kanrei for a long time and also to remove the shogun, and this was the time that the Hosokawa-Keicho family was in its prime.
生前の奇行や死後の内紛などのため、これまで後世の評価は芳しくはなかったが、近年では管領の地位を長期間にわたって保ち、なおかつ将軍の廃立すら行った政元の時代こそが細川京兆家の全盛期であったと見るのが通説となっている。