"The Reagan myth is pretty simple," said Bunch, a senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. "Basically, people want Ronald Reagan remembered as the man who won the Cold War and as the man who turned the economy around ... this idea that Reagan brought down the Berlin Wall and that he cut taxes and saved the American economy."
He noted that conservatives also fail to mention that Reagan raised taxes throughout his presidency and was willing to work across the aisle with Democrats on major policies such as Social Security.
"When he had to govern, he was actually kind of a great compromiser. He was willing to make compromises to get things done. You almost never hear about the fact he reached a deal with Democrats on Social Security," Bunch said. "He signed off on some sort of tax increase every year of his presidency after 1982, including one that was at the time the largest tax increase in American history to undo the fact that the '81 tax cut went too far."
Brinkley said conservatives forget that he was actually influenced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat responsible for the "New Deal" big-government program; and by President Dwight Eisenhower, a moderate Republican who "showed huge senses of pragmatism and doing big American things well, like the interstate highway."