Lee Greif began his successful career in politics
Friday, October 31st, 2008Lee Greif has engaged in many different careers throughout his life, none of which he recalls more fondly than his five year stint in politics. Although they were tumultuous and filled with some heavy tension, the early 1970s were an amazing time to be in the political arena and Greif is extremely appreciative that he could be a part of it. He was first hired in 1971 by Peter Peyser. Peyser was a congressman of New York who had recently won the election in New York’s congress race. Peyser chose Greif to be his chief of staff. This was a decision that he would not go on to regret as Grief would later go on to run two successful campaigns for his reelection.
Peter Peyser was an interesting and successful politician in his own right. Peyser was the republican congressman who represented the suburban Westchester County. Peyser was a close political associate of Nelson Rockefeller and the two were actually good friends. Many were the times that the two would develop policies together. Peyser’s connections with Rockefeller would give Grief the chance to work on many special and prestigious projects. He drew much attention from his superiors due to the excellent job he performed on them. The assignments may have been difficult, but it was nothing that Grief wasn’t able to accomplish.
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.
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