It’s a showdown between the two most influential presidents of the 20th Century. Franklin D. Roosevelt versus Ronald W. Reagan.

Forty-five percent (45%) of U.S. voters say FDR, the Democratic father of the big government New Deal who led the country to victory in World War II, was the better president of the two.

But 40% say Reagan, the Republican champion of small-government conservatism and the winner of the Cold War, was a better president. Fifteen percent (15%) aren’t sure which of the two they like better in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

For a plurality of all voters (43%), however, it’s still best to describe a political candidate as being like Reagan. Twenty-six percent (26%) see it as a negative, while 29% regard it as somewhere in between.

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Among male voters, Reagan’s the one by a 46% to 42% margin. For women voters, however, Roosevelt is the clear favorite by 15 points.

White voters are closely divided, with FDR the winner by three, but the Democrat is the favorite of African-American voters by more than two-to-one.

In the no-surprise department, Reagan has a 68% to 20% lead among Republican voters, while Roosevelt is tops among Democrats by a similar 69% to 17% margin. Unaffiliated voters are virtually tied.

Broken down by ideology, 76% of liberals favor FDR, but 11% are for Reagan. Conservatives back Reagan 68% to 19%, while moderates prefer Roosevelt 56% to 26%.

Married voters give the edge to the Republican 46% to 41%, but unmarried voters are on Roosevelt’s side 54% to 27%. Reagan leads among voters with children at home by 16 points, while Roosevelt comes out ahead by 18 points among those with no children in the home.

Reagan is the overwhelming favorite among Evangelical Christians (61% to 28%), but he trails by six points among other Protestants and by five among Catholic voters. Reagan’s support is highest among those who attend church most regularly.

In terms of a voter’s age, Reagan is the clear favorite of those ages 30 to 49, while those younger and older strongly support Roosevelt.

In his first inaugural address, President Ronald Reagan declared, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” A survey in early October found that 59% of voters still agree with him, and just 28% disagree.

The survey was taken just before Congress approved an historic $700 billion economic rescue plan for the nation’s financial sector. On December 19, President Bush directed that some of that money be channeled into loans for two of the troubled Big Three automakers, which similarly opens the door to unprecedented government intervention in the private sector.

In other recent surveys, most voters reject the idea of the federal government running the automakers or a national health plan.

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