What has Siuan done that she should be compared to Lincoln? More like if Chester A Arthur suddenly appeared before Congress, and even that doesn't compare, because we have good reason to assume he's dead. She was not proven dead or missing for decades, and she was not a legendary leader or heroic figure around whom a national myth was built. They rebelled and rallied in Salidar for the same reason that all the Democrats refused to vote to convict President Clinton - partisan politics. It was because they felt threatened by a factional powerplay, not because they admired Siuan personally (they'd have gone to Tear or someplace significant to her life if that was the case).

No, he simply gave us the reality.

She didn't even have what you perceive Siuan to have had. She appeared so to a bunch of naive and unsophisticated young people who were all but totally in her power. In her first scene in the book, she is whining about her political troubles, and how dangerous and precarious her position is, and Moiraine is keeping things from her and mentally toting up her shortcomings. RtDB.

So based solely on a personal assumption derived from her term of office, you throw out her character portrayal?

Well, there is a reason why RJ & not you is the best selling author. Siuan Sanche never did anything to make kings and queens come - it was due solely to the authority and power that accrue to her office. It is all about the office and NOT the occupant. That was the point - not that Siuan was suddenly so much less, but the transient nature of her power and authority, all of which were derived from a position and not her own accomplishments and character.