Though he had many different careers in his life, Lee Greif recalls his five year turn in politics with the most fondness. First hired in 1971 by new Congressman of New York Peter Peyser, Greif was chosen by Peyser to be his chief of staff. The early 1970s was a tumultuous time to be in politics, but it was obvious Peyser did not regret picking Grief as his chief of staff because he ran two successful campaigns for reelection. Throughout this period, despite the high tension of the era, Grief was extremely grateful to be involved in the political arena as he found it very interesting.

Peter Peyser had an interesting political career of his own. A Republican congressman representing the suburbs of Westchester County, New York, Peyser became a close friend and partner of Nelson Rockefeller. The two of them would often meet to discuss various policy matters and ways to accomplish their public policy goals. Grief had the opportunity to work on many projects because of Peyser's association with Rockefeller, and did a good job on most of them. These difficult but successfully accomplished assignments earned Grief the attention and support of his superiors.

Grief's position as a chief of staff during the early 1970s was ideal for Grief to build on-the-job experience. One event he remembers particularly fondly is a dinner party, held by President Nixon at the White House, he attended with three other congressman and their chiefs of staff. He also got to take part in various political briefings with the Secretaries of State and Defense. The period during which Grief was in Washington was also one of great political conflict, and he was forced to defend many unpopular policies– most notably because he was working for a Democrat during the Vietnam War and for a Republican during the Watergate scandal. He notes those two occasions as having required him to stand behind particularly unpopular decisions made by his superiors.

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.