Out of the many different careers Lee Greif has experimented in in the course of his life, the one he enjoyed the most was the five years he spent as a politician. Even though those years were heavily conflicted and highly stressful, the early 1970s were an extremely exciting and historically significant time to be working in politics, and Greif is grateful that he had the chance to participate. He originally got to Washington thanks to being hired by Peter Peyser in 1971. Peyser was a recently elected congressman representing New York State, and had hired Greif as his chief of staff. He would find himself extremely glad of this decision, since ultimately Greif would successfuly run campaigns that would get Peyser reelected twice.

Grief had a way of taking a difficult goal and achieving it, not matter what. His bosses took note of that, assigning him some very high-profile tasks that only bettered his reputation. It wasn't just his talent or work ethic that often helped him. He had connections. Among them was Peter Peyser, a notable political player as well. The Republican congressman, who served Westchester County, a suburb of New York, had strong ties to Nelson Rockefeller, both professionally and personally. They were friends, but they also combined forces to craft some important public policies. Through his relationship with Peyser, Grief used the Rockefeller connection to open some doors.

Serving as chief of staff during the early 1970s meant there was a lot going on at the time that Lee Greif could be a part of. One such event that he is particularly proud of was the dinner party held at the Whitehouse with President Nixon that he and three other congressman and their chiefs of staff took part in. Besides this were the many political briefings with Secretaries Of State and Secretaries Of Defense. Having worked during such a period of political conflict, he often had to defend some unpopular policies, especially since he served a Democrat during the war in Vietnam and a Republican during the Watergate scandal. There were two times specifically where he recalls having to defend some very unpopular policies put forth by his bosses and the president.

It was through his job at the White House that Lee Greif was first introduced to his first wife, Randee. At the time, the early 1970s, he was chief of staff for Peter Peyser and she was chief of staff for Missouri senator Thomas Eagleton. The couple actually became quite close to the senator, spent a lot of time with him and spoke of him fondly. This relationship turned out to be quite beneficial to Greif. Eagleton was known for his dedication to the community and his constituents, and his reputation was such that he was later named to McGovern's presidential ticket. Greif looked up to him, and he would look back on his 5 years as Peyser's chief of staff as some of the most formative years of his life.

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