Lee Greif spent an exciting five years working in Washington as the chief of staff for Peter Peyser, a recently elected congressman of New York. Peyser was a republican that represented the suburban county of Westchester in New York. He had just defeated Daddario in the gubernatorial race and hired Lee Greif to be his chief of staff. Peyser was a moderate republican who would later go on to run as a democrat in later elections. Grief performed many sordid duties while employed by Peyser who was always impressed with his hard work and dedication. While he worked for Peyser he had many achievements, but none could hold a candle to the fact that he successfully ran two campaigns which got Peyser reelected.

Peter Peyser was a very successful politician who worked closely with Nelson Rockefeller. In fact, the two of them were very close friends. Because of the close political ties in which the two shared, Peyser would often have many exciting and special projects for Lee to work on. They were difficult yes, but the large amount of prestige which they carried overshadowed the hard work in which they entailed.

During the time period that he served as chief of staff for Peter Peyser, the Watergate scandal took place. This made Lee Greif’s five years in Washington an exciting time indeed. There were many events that happened to Lee during this time that he still remembers fondly. One such experience was when he, Peyser, and three other congressmen and their chiefs of staff all ate dinner at the Whitehouse with the President, Richard M. Nixon. Besides this event were the many meetings that were held with Secretaries Of Defense and Secretaries Of State which were always an interesting and educating experience.

Working in Washington during this difficult period however, meant that he had to work with a Democrat during the war in Vietnam and a Republican during the Watergate debacle. As a result, he was often put at odds with his fellow politicians and would have to support positions that were unpopular with the public as well. Many of these policies came from the president himself who was disliked by many people at the time.

One of the brighter times of his five year political career in Washington was meeting his first wife, Randee. When they met, Randee was a member of US Senator Thomas Eagleton’s staff. Eagleton and Greif hit things off well and Eagleton became a major supporter of his throughout his political career. Besides this, they became close friends and Eagleton always supplied him with a healthy dose of inspiration. Eagleton was a democrat from Missouri at the time, but that didn’t interfere with the political relationship of the two. Altogether, the time that Lee Greif would spend in Washington serving as Peter Peyser’s chief of staff was an amazing and exciting experience. Greif would learn a lot during this period and he carried this wisdom with him throughout the years to aid him in all of his future endeavors.