Yeah, he did what he could, but he was sort of limited in what he could do by the rest of the government. Of course, he was 84, so it's quite possible he would have ended up getting side-lined anyway. But his reputation would have been much more positive at least.
More on his policies (and his desires before and after his term as war minister) here (in French):
https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/61817?lang=fr
He indeed did a very positive if incomplete job, completely reversing (or attempting to reverse) the previous defensive policy focused on fortifications and reserves at the expense of the professional forces:
- he convinced Barthou to work with him to revitalize the alliances with Poland and the eastern european states, and to bring Italy back on the Entente's side, while warning Britain about its lack of involvement.
- he financed or tried to finance major equipment acquisitions to create strong armored and air forces that could go on the offensive beyond the fortifications, aknowledging the fact that Luxemburg would likely not be neutral ground. He always sought after WW1 to create a mobile force and did not believe in fortifications (not only them).
- he wanted to improve cooperation between the three branches, and between the armed forces and the industry by creating a place for a commander of all branches (never done due to the opposition of the three branches), and a sort of equivalent to the Ministry of Supply (not done either). This lack of coordination partially explains the late and difficult rearmament.
- he wanted to reinforce the professionalism of the army and get around the issue of the hollow classes of 34 and later, reinforcing the role of NCOs, improving reserve training, increasing the standing army size and bringing part of the 1933 class back. He was in favor of greater military/patriotic education, to keep morale high and increase recruit skill.
Budgetary constraints, lack of political support and action (Doumergue completely failed as Président du Conseil here, also failing to enact constitutional reforms), opposition from army branches screwed him over.