Pat Brown Reigns Again in Capitol : Politics: The man defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1966 is praised by Pete Wilson at ceremonies. An elder statesman at 86, he has some advice for the governor: Raise taxes.

A quarter century after being ousted from office by Ronald Reagan, former Democratic Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown returned to the Capitol on Monday to be praised by another Republican governor as a “great leader” who “helped build California” and wasn’t afraid of a fight.

“Some politicians pass through office ducking fights and avoiding controversy. That was never Gov. Brown’s way,” Gov. Pete Wilson told a joint session of the Legislature. “He was eager to make changes and he knew he’d have to ruffle feathers to do it.”

Wilson may have been thinking of himself as well. Wilson’s job rating is the poorest of any first-term governor since Pat Brown, according to the most recent California Poll.

Brown, who will be 87 next month, seemed to have a momentary flashback of his old political battles when he stood at the speaker’s rostrum and looked out over the legislative chamber. Interrupting himself with a chuckle, he said, “I had an awful time with even my fellow Democratic legislators when I was governor.”

He then turned to Wilson and drew loud laughs by asking rhetorically, “You don’t have that difficulty, do you governor?”

It was “Pat Brown Day” in the Capitol, the first time the former governor has been formally honored here since Reagan quashed his third-term bid by a whopping 15-point margin in 1966.

Historians have been kinder to Brown than voters were 26 years ago. And his image has regained the luster it had when he first was elected governor in a landslide over the late U.S. Sen. William F. Knowland in 1958--the year that Wilson moved to California. Conservatives as well as liberals now credit Brown with boldly moving the state ahead during a crucial period of growth by building a massive water project, a vast freeway system and several university campuses, among other projects.

“Someone said to me, whatever you want to get done, get it done during the first year of your Administration--you’ll never be as popular again as the day you take your oath of office,” Brown said Monday in an interview.

He called the water project and the state’s master plan for higher education “the two things I am most proud of as governor.” He later added the state parks system to the list.

Brown demonstrated why he often got into political trouble as governor: He said taxes should be higher and contended that Wilson should raise them again, despite a record $7.6-billion hike last year.

“I think the state needs more money,” Brown said. “It needs more investment in the future. No governor wants to raise taxes. . . . People don’t want to pay taxes. They’ll spend money on everything else, but they don’t realize that the money spent by government is usually well spent. . . . I don’t think Wilson is asking for enough money to take care of the future needs of California.”

In his remarks, Wilson referred to Brown as one of the “California pathfinders, the great leaders” in the tradition of explorer John C. Fremont and reformist Gov. Hiram Johnson. “He always scorned the path of least resistance,” Wilson said.

The Assembly Chamber was packed not only with legislators but with state constitutional officers, including Brown’s daughter, state Treasurer Kathleen Brown; his wife, Bernice, and roughly two dozen other family members. His son, former Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., was off campaigning for President.

“Jerry has a tough campaign,” Brown noted to reporters.

Kathleen, he added, “is the best in the family. She’s greater than her father and greater than her brother. And I think she could be the first woman governor.”

Later at a midafternoon luncheon, Brown told the audience, “It’s been a great day. At 87 years of age, you don’t know how many more you’re going to have.”

Author-historian Kevin Starr, the guest speaker, said he envisioned Brown someday “soaring over this state . . . a sort of benevolent seraphim.” Commented Kathleen Brown, “If my brother had been here, he couldn’t have said it better.”