It’s a good thing today’s holiday isn’t Father’s Day because the Father of our Country sure isn’t getting much respect.

George Washington is a distant second to Abraham Lincoln in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey asking Americans which of the men whose birthdays we honor on Presidents’ Day has had the more lasting impact on U.S. history.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) say Lincoln, the 16th president who served from 1861 to 1865, while 23% say Washington, our first president from 1789 to 1797. Eight percent (8%) are undecided.

When Americans are asked to choose who among five presidents was the nation’s most influential chief executive, Washington comes in next to last with 12%. He is followed only by Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the man who made the Louisiana Purchase, with 10% support.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) say Lincoln, who led the country during the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, was the country’s most influential president. Ronald Reagan is next at 16%, with Franklin D. Roosevelt close behind (15%). Eleven percent (11%) aren’t sure.

Democrats, on both questions, have a higher regard for Lincoln, the first Republican elected president, than do members of his own party.

Lincoln has been in the news a great deal recently with President Obama’s allusions to him and many in the media and on Obama’s campaign team drawing parallels between the two men. This perhaps explains why Lincoln is so highly regarded now after being edged out by Washington last July 4 in a survey of the most popular presidents.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? Sign up now. If it's in the news, it's in our polls.)

This is the second recent survey to show that perceptions of Reagan and Roosevelt are viewed similarly. Last December 45% said that FDR was a better president than Reagan while 40% said the opposite. FDR is considered by many the Democratic father of the big government New Deal who led the country to victory in World War II. Reagan is seen as the Republican champion of lower taxes and small-government conservatism who won the Cold War.

Washington is the overwhelming winner though when Americans are asked to pick the greatest Founding Father from a list of the first four U.S. presidents. Forty-eight percent (48%) pick Washington, with Jefferson next at 26%. John Adams was the choice of 10% of adults, while James Madison, the primary author of the U.S. Constitution, came in dead last at four percent (4%). Eleven percent (11%) couldn’t decide.

Fourteen percent (14%) of Americans say Presidents’ Day is one of the country’s most important holidays, while 27% view it as one of the least important. For most (57%), it falls somewhere in between. This is a slight improvement in the numbers from last year.

Lincoln was born on February 12, Washington on February 22. Originally the holiday was intended to honor Washington’s birthday only, but in the mid-1980s, it was expanded to celebrate both presidents.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of Democrats say Lincoln made a more lasting impact on American history than Washington, and 68% of Republicans and 60% of adults not affiliated with either party agree.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of Democrats say Lincoln was the most influential U.S. president, with Roosevelt a distant second (19%). Republicans are evenly divided between Lincoln and Reagan for the first two choices. Unaffiliated Americans like Lincoln best, with Washington and Jefferson tied for second.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free)… let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs are available to Premium Members only.