In 1971, Lee Greif began his successful career in politics when he was asked by the recently elected United States congressman Peter Peyser to serve as his chief of staff. Peter Peyser was a Republican from New York. He was a moderate Republican from New York who represented the suburban area of Westchester County, located just above Manhattan Island. Lee Grief served as his chief of staff for nearly 5 years. While serving him, he performed numerous duties for Peter Peyser efficiently and competently. Among his greatest achievements when serving Peyser, was when he successfully managed his two reelection campaigns allowing Peyser to serve as governor for two additional terms.

Peter Peyser was a contemporary of Nelson Rockefeller; in fact, they were both close, long term friends and allies in the political arena. Because of Peter Peyser's numerous political connections, such as Nelson Rockefeller, Lee Greif was given numerous special assignments which not only carried with them a sense of prestige, but a huge responsibility as well. The assignments Lee Greif would undertake while serving as chief of staff for the New York Governor would be difficult, but nothing that Greif couldn't handle.

One of the more interesting facets of Grief's career was the fact that when he served under Peter Peyser as chief of staff, he did so during the same period that the Watergate scandal took place in. As a result, he experienced many exciting events during this time that he recalls fondly. One such event occurred during a dinner party at the White House with President Nixon that, besides himself and Peter Peyser, consisted of a small group of three congressman and their chiefs of staff. He also attended many private briefings that included the Secretaries of State and the Secretaries of Defense among many others.

The tumultuous times in which he served often put him at odds with his fellow politicians as he often was forced to defend some fairly unpopular policies as a result of having served a Democrat during the war in Vietnam, and a Republican during the Watergate scandal. There were two times in particular that he was forced to defend some very unpopular public policies that his boss's party and the president at the time, Richard Milhous Nixon, were trying to put into place.

Serving in Washington, Lee Greif met his first wife Randee. At the time of their meeting, she was a staff member for United States Senator Thomas Eagleton. He and his wife considered him to be a terrific guy whose company they enjoyed thoroughly. Thomas Eagleton was a dedicated public servant who became a close friend of Greif's and would go on to become a major supporter of his as well as a major source of inspiration for Greif. Eagleton was a democrat from Missouri who became the Vice President candidate in George McGovern's Presidential campaign. The experience that Lee Greif would gain during this interesting time in his life, would later serve him well throughout his life, especially in the many entrepreneurial endeavors in which he would later participate in.