From the viewpoint of continuing the job of a titular Kanto Kanrei, some people say that Kenshin was a formalist, particular about forms, an authoritarian respecting authority rather than substance, and a reversionary hoping for revival of the Muromachi bakufu system.
有名無実な関東管領職にこだわり続けた面から、形式に拘る形式主義者、実質よりも権威を重んじる権威主義者、室町幕府体制の復興を願う復古主義者と評する声がある。