Born in Lynchburg, South Carolina to William J. McLeod, a former captain in the Confederate Army, and Amanda McMillan Rogers McLeod, he attended Lynchburg Academy and graduated from Wofford College and the University of Virginia Law School.

[1] His political career began when he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1900.

He became the first state senator from the newly formed Lee County in 1902.

In 1906, he was elected the 66th lieutenant governor of South Carolina and re-elected in 1908.

Re-elected in 1924, McLeod served as governor until his term expired in 1927.