Blog to The World

Lee Greif served as chief of staff for Congressman Peter Peyser for five years. Serving during the Watergate period meant that he had to endure many challenges and support some unpopular positions which were set forth by his colleagues and the President Richard M. Nixon. Even so, there were many memorable events such as his dinner with the president, his private meetings with Secretaries Of State and Secretaries Of Defense, and most importantly, his first marriage to Randee whom he met while she was employed by Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri. He was always a dedicated worker and impressed his superiors and colleagues on a regular basis.

Even though he truly had the time of his life while acting as chief of staff for republican congressman Peter Peyser, it had always been his life’s ambition to become a lawyer. He had actually earned his law degree and was quite eager to put it into use. It was because of this that he left Washington and the political arena that he had become so used to and came back to his home state of Connecticut. It was here that he had planned to found his law practice and begin what would hopefully be a long and successful political career. His plans were interrupted when disaster struck him and his family. His father in law had come down with a powerful heart illness which kept him from running the family business. His father in law required heart surgery and without him to run the clothing business, his family feared the worst.

With his father in law’s consent, Greif become CEO of the family clothing business on a temporary basis and just until his father in law was healthy enough to once again take up the reins. His father in law’s business was a fairly large chain of women’s clothing stores which had gained notoriety in the area as being wonderful places to shop. As a matter of fact, this chain of stores was originally established in 1881 and had reaped prosperity throughout its entire life.

It was never sufficient enough for Lee Greif to take up any task with a lack of entrepreneurship, dedication, and follow through. Therefore he put his entire heart and soul into the business. His father in law took some time to recover from the heart surgery which gave Lee Grief ample time to put his genius into work. Putting to work all his accumulated knowledge and know how, Greif put so much effort into keeping the business alive and successful that he actually increased the chain from having five stores to a total of 11 stores by the time he stepped down as CEO. Altogether, he ran the business for 4 years and loved every moment of it. He also enjoyed all the new relationships that he developed during this time.