Metcalfe was born in Omaha, Nebraska in August 1894, the son of Omaha mayor and Panama Canal Zone military governor Richard Lee Metcalfe and his wife Elizabeth Buehler.

A member of the Republican Party, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska in the 1930 election, serving with Democratic Governor Charles W. Bryan, brother of William Jennings Bryan.

In 1934, Metcalfe ran in Nebraska's gubernatorial election, and was defeated by Dwight Griswold in the Republican primary.

He again ran for office in the 1940 election for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, and was defeated by Democrat Charles F. McLaughlin.

He died on February 19, 1973, and is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Omaha, Nebraska.