Ok, I admit, the unrivaled chief hero of the Revolution all of sudden revealing himself to be a reactionary and crowning himself 'First Citizen' or something (maybe even King, lol) is a little out there, but at least from an unprofessional view it seems as though Bonaparte looms like a colossus over the formative years of the Republic, he and his army seeming to save France on their own several times. I imagine there were points when Bonaparte, if he wished, could've just did what he wished and nobody would've had the strength to resist him. That he remained loyal to the constitution (insofar as he only got it changed through the odd referendum here and there) like Washington in America set a precedent that greatly strengthened the young democracy.
If he decided to march his army up to the corps législatif and ordered it dispensed, what might follow?
He certainly could have, but it'd be pretty uncharacteristic of him to do so. The man had always been a little sensitive about the arrogance of inherited status and power since his days at the military academy. No matter how hard he worked or proper he acted, he was never seen as an equal by the other students due to his Corsican and commoner heritage. This taught him that systems of absolute power and excessive social stratification tended to quickly fossilize and was anthemia to the innovation he loved so much... and was keenly aware of the history of military dictatorships to turn into corrupt despotism.
I'd also argue the extended period he and his "Army of the Orient" spent in Egypt and his time as a guest in Constantinople during his effective political exile during France's "Jacobite Tetrarchy" period following the Directorie's collapse while their golden boy was away really helped solidify the idea that power, stability, and respect need not be tied to titles and pomp in his mind. I remember how he wrote about the impact seeing the ruins of the Pharaohs had on him in the chapter of his memoirs "I am Ozymandias" and how his men and the locals commented on how it was the people who built them, not the gods or kings, and how much good his soldiers and scientists did in conjunction with the Ottoman administrators and engineers who were sent down after, being isolated from and betrayed by Paris, he returned the province to the direct rule Sultan from the disloyal Mamelukes as Tallyrand had initially claimed they were there for. Than to be honored by and treated as a casual equal by the reform-minded Selim III, who show such legitiment interest in his ideas and philosophies for their own sake...
Not to mention, it meant the French had gotten a bellyful of despotism just prior to his return and were in no rush to get it back. That probably helped
Maybe you can get this if we have a POD where he's forced to implement dictorial policies outside of France and find they work, while then coming back to a France currently under a discredited regime rather than a new one people still have hope in?