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Since the 1990s a false image of Ronald Reagan has been foisted on the American people by those who seek to use his legacy to advance their own political agenda. Some who call themselves conservatives want to convince us that Reagan always lowered taxes and refused to raise them; that he was consistently uncompromising in his interactions with people and countries with whom he disagreed; that he never engaged in dialogue to promote his goals. But those who prefer history to mythmaking know that the real Ronald Reagan raised taxes more often than he lowered them, and that he compromised as needed to promote his most basic principles. Although his rhetoric sounded uncompromising at times, Reagan showed pragmatism throughout his career to advance what he believed to be the best interests of the American people.

Many politicians who tell us that they model their careers after Reagan would have us believe that he stood only for tax cuts. But when confronted with a huge deficit in 1967 right after taking office, Governor Reagan presided over the largest proportional tax increase in California history. After a long period of negotiation with the state legislature he signed an increase of $1 billion on a $6 billion budget. In his second term, he worked with the Assembly Democrats to create a bipartisan welfare bill. Reagan also raised taxes in all but his first and last years as President. His deficit spending was a record for his time, but he did compromise and allow increases in an attempt to keep the federal budget from falling off a cliff.

Now that Reagan in no longer here to speak for himself, we have a generation of would-be Reagans largely inspired by a false image. The myth that many hold today of his inflexibility on taxes is largely the creation of Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, who has used a distorted version of Reagan’s legacy to coerce scores of legislators – at both the federal and state level – to pledge that they never will raise taxes. But this dogma contradicts both the record and philosophy of the real Ronald Reagan.

We are told that Reagan never compromised with foreign rulers, but perhaps his greatest accomplishment as president was the nuclear arms reduction agreement that he reached with the Soviets in 1987 after years of negotiations and in opposition to many in his own party. Those in Congress who were the chief critics of this arms deal, including Dick Cheney (R-WY) and Jesse Helms (R-NC), called the treaty a “suicide pact,” and compared it to the appeasement of Hitler by Neville Chamberlain. As Reagan’s rhetoric toward the Soviets continued to soften, he was continually attacked by self-styled conservative writers, including George Will and William Safire. Reagan knew the dangers of not negotiating, and responded: “I think that some of the people who are objecting the most…have accepted that war is inevitable.” He was also cautious about going to war, stating that “killing civilians in a strike against terrorists would be an act of terrorism itself.”

Reagan believed that the Soviet Union would collapse of its own weight, and he was right, saying that communism “will one day disappear from the earth because it is contrary to human nature.” But after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the political right rallied around its own version of Reagan’s record to claim that he had actually caused the fall of communism. Despite their opposition to Reagan during his presidency, those who claim to be the true keepers of his legacy now portray him as a never-bending champion of good over evil who defeated the Soviets with his famous “tear down this wall” speech.

Diplomacy - and the ability to work with others for the perpetuation of the American vision - is a necessity that Ronald Reagan understood. He had a long-stated goal of nuclear disarmament, and stated: "The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise: The United States does not start fights. We will never be an aggressor." He displayed faults - as do all presidents - but many of his harshest critics then are those who now seek to distort his legend to drive a wedge between Americans.

The difference between Reagan and many who call themselves conservatives today is that Reagan usually kept the big picture in mind. Although considered intolerant by many, his pervading theme was that compromise was better than letting our government become dysfunctional. True conservatism finds guidance in the common vision with which our country began - a vision of independence, but one supported by cooperation with others toward making our country work.

Whatever we think of Reagan, it would be hard to deny that he was a man of courage. He said what he thought - right or wrong - in a way that appealed to a great number of Americans. He often did what he thought was right, and acted independently of those in his party, unlike many politicians of his day and of ours.

The economy, however, is one major area where Reagan did not succeed in the long term - another area where the mythmakers try to delude us. The U.S. treasury took in much less than it spent during the Reagan years, thus the "Reagan recovery" is another invention. Burdened by debt, the economy imploded at the end of his presidency. Since Reagan's time we have become a culture of accumulation, rather than a country that pays its way meet its needs. This attitude has only somewhat abated in light of our recent financial downturn. Once again we have a choice - we can invest in our future and reap the return of our investment, or abandon the future, which means abandoning ourselves and our children. Investment - rather than government borrowing - stimulates the economy in the long term because it puts money in the hands of those who will spend it and thus improves the economy for everyone.

Civilizations succeed when they commit themselves to a common vision, and disintegration begins as that vision fades. A vision inspires us to believe in a lasting purpose that is larger than ourselves. The founding vision of our nation was recognition of the integrity of every human being, and it is the role of our government to perpetuate and protect that principle in all areas, including our laws, education, infrastructure, fire and police services, and protections for the most vulnerable among us. Putting aside individual differences to work together toward a common goal was essential to the founding of our nation. Those who have distorted Reagan's legacy to promote individual gain by some over others disregard this essential concept. They pursue a reckless course that has the potential to lead us to financial ruin. What is demanded is a return to a vision of respectful and productive interaction for our common benefit.

Ronald Reagan, like others before and after, had an ability to present a vision to the American people in a way they could understand. We now need leaders who can explain our current economic reality to the public to make us aware of the need for sacrifice toward our larger goals of economic and political stability.