Boston ? Eli J. Segal, who headed President Clinton’s national service program after serving as his 1992 campaign chief of staff, died on Monday, his family said. He was 63.

Segal died at his Boston home from complications of a rare form of cancer in the lining of his lung, said family spokesman Matt Bennett. He was diagnosed in November.

“A long time friend and colleague, Eli embodied the spirit of the American dream and lived his life as a man for others,” said Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in a statement. “As he was for many other people, he was a rock of stability and a wise counselor to us.”

Segal also headed retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark’s failed 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Segal was chief of staff of Clinton’s 1992 campaign and later was an assistant to Clinton in the White House. He left in 1996 to head the Welfare to Work Partnership, a nonprofit created by the American business community to train and hire former welfare recipients.