He was a political science major at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he was a civil rights activist, organizing sit-ins in Tallahassee.

He served in the Military Intelligence Corps before graduating from Florida A&M University College of Law with his Juris Doctor in 1965.

He issued a report critical of Opa-locka's government and police department, was the Dade County School Board's first black attorney, and was appointed by Governor Reubin Askew to a Florida Industrial Commission judgeship.

After returning to private practice for five years, McCrary was appointed in 1977 to the Florida Constitution Revision Commission by Askew.

The following year, Askew appointed him Secretary of State of Florida to finish the unexpired term of Bruce Smathers, who had resigned to run for governor.