Jefferson Davis- Commanded the Mississippi Rifles as Colonel during the Mexican-American war, was a Representative and Senator, and successful Secretary of War.
Abraham Lincoln- elected Captain of his brigade during the 1832 Blackhawk wars and saw no action, elected to one term in the House and was kicked out for opposing the Mexican-American war.
However, Lincoln proved to be the better President. Why? Because Lincoln was looking at the big picture, the long game, and he didn't hold grudges. Lincoln was openly mocked and riduculed, even by some in his own cabinet but he didn't make anybody pay for that. Instead, he saw the ultimate goal was to re-unite the States into one Union, and to free the slaves (he was the first anti-slavery President in US history). Jefferson Davis was thin-skinned and could be spiteful. He didn't have the vision of a George Washington, where to form a new country, the goal wasn't to WIN the war, but to NOT LOSE. He allowed Lee to invade the North twice, with disastrous results.
If he had had vision, he'd have kept the capital in Montgomery, Alabama where it could be more easily defended. The Confederacy could've more easily wore down the Union's will to fight by doing this. Turns out, all the Union needed was the kind of commander who wasn't afraid to take on Lee and the war was over in little over a year after Grant took command.