Reagan.
My rationale is that Reagan had a much harder job on the domestic front as far as responding to stagflation, while Eisenhower more or less operated on auto-pilot and let the post-war center-left consensus that existed in this country at the time continue on course.
Meanwhile, in foreign policy, Reagan helped bring the Cold War to an end while Eisenhower engaged in some truly awful chess games with the Third World. Remember that there likely would have been no Iran-Contra, no Iran-Iraq War and no Iran Hostage Crisis if Eisenhower hadn't signed off on a little thing called Operation Ajax.
While I do agree that US foreign policy was an utter joke in the 1950s and pretty awful, this is a very fallacious argument to make. While you can make a point about blowback bringing about unintended consequences (like 9/11), this only seems to be used to justify somebody's actions based on what someone did before them.
Again, let me give you an example:
Obamanation, ponder this:
A customer orders a Pepperoni Pizza with extra jalapeņo peppers, mushrooms, and some bacon bits. Employee A makes the pizza shortly before leaving shift. Employee B takes the pizza to the customer. Thirty seconds later the customer takes the pizza back to Employee B, pointing out that Employee A put banana peppers on the pizza and forgot the bacon bits. Employee B apologizes, and then goes to the back to fix the pizza. Employee B comes back and gives the pizza back to the customer. Customer looks at the pizza and groans, loudly pointing out that he specifically stated that he wanted jalapeņo peppers on the pizza, not no peppers at all. Further, they wanted bacon bits, not cold pre packaged whole bacon on top of the pizza. Employee B apologizes profusely, noting that the loud music in the restaurant distorted what he heard, and that he would fix the pizza up for the customer. Employee B takes the pizza to the back, trips over a cord, and the pizza hits the floor in plain view of the customer up front. The customer, enraged at the incompetence, yells at the top of his lungs and face contorted in rage "I WANT A NEW PIZZA!" Enter Employee C, who just got off the phone from a delivery customer who has apologized profusely for canceling at the last minute, who comes to the front and asks the customer if they would like the brand new Buffalo Chicken pizza with polish sausage and jalapenos, extra large, free of charge while he personally remakes their pizza as originally ordered. The customer, who always wanted to try the Buffalo Chicken pizza but didn't because it was too pricey, is like "okay, I guess I can try it now. Hey thanks for taking care of this mess! I hope your manager fires this asshole." (points at Employee B)
Now, I'm sure that by now you put it together who these three employees are, so let me ask: Does the fact that Employee A screwed up the original order excuse Employee B from his screwing it up even further? Especially considering that Employee B didn't understand what the real problem was with it?
Employee C is just on the side to please the FDR fans 
.
You take this same scenario and instead have Carter screw up the order first, and then telling the customer he's sorry but he has to leave cos his shift is over and then Reagan comes onto shift and takes the pizza to the back to fix it. Once he gets back there he forgets what was supposed to be on it because Carter didn't leave any notes and he has a very short memory so he goes back to the customer to ask what they wanted on it. The customer, who is a very nice guy who doesn't want to be known as the asshole who chided a guy who works at a pizza shop, just smiles and says that he'll be okay with a pizza with bacon bits and jalapenos, extra or not. The wife and kids are waiting at home for him, and he doesn't want to make things too complicated. Reagan says he'll throw in free breadsticks to compensate for the wait. Reagan goes to the back and finds out that there are no more breadsticks because Ike gave away a bunch of them to his friends when he got off at second shift. The pizza gets fixed, with maybe a five jalapenos on the whole pizza, the pepperoni slices are way too big, though somebody did remember to put bacon bits on the pizza. Reagan comments that they are apparently out of breadsticks, but the man can have a five dollars off of three large pizzas coupon for his troubles. THe customer, too much of a nice guy who was probably thinking about having sex with his wife for the first time in three weeks, just nods and gives Reagan the twenty and makes his way home. He doesn't think too much of the pizza at first, but then a few weeks remembers that it ultimately left him unfulfilled and disappointed.
Is it Ike's fault that Reagan was a disappointment?
Poll
