Speed was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, and was a prominent attorney in Indiana with Benjamin Harrison.

In 1889, he moved to Winfield, Kansas, and following the Run of '89 he established a law practice in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory.

His experience with the Cherokee Commission led now President Benjamin Harrison to appoint him United States Attorney for the territory (1890–1894).

In 1901, following Territorial Governor William Miller Jenkins removal from office, President Theodore Roosevelt called Speed to Washington and offered him the governorship.

One of his major targets in this position was a group of grafters who had so corrupted the Land Office that it had lost the confidence of the public.

[1] Speed was appointed as a special prosecutor on April 11, 1898, to investigate the lynching of two Seminole boys who had been accused of the rape and murder of a white woman and her baby.

Speed's investigation identified the perpetrators and resulted in the arrest, conviction and sentencing of 45 white men for kidnapping and 45 for arson.

[2] In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt offered to nominate Speed to become the sixth Governor of Oklahoma Territory.