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.

There were a lot of opportunities for Greif to be involved in a hands-on way while he was chief of staff in the early 1970s. Along with three congressional chiefs of staff, he was on the scene for one of Nixon’s dinner parties at the White House, and he got experience briefing many high-ranking officials, including state and defense department secretaries. But working for a Democrat during two periods of crisis — Watergate and the Vietnam war — Greif wasn’t always well liked by everyone, and sometimes he had to tout controversial ideas and policies. He remembers at least twice having to stand up for administration proposals that didn’t have a lot of public support.

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.

Tags: Lee Greif

This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 4:58 am and is filed under Business, General.