Wallace McClure was born to William Kyle and Eliza Parsons (Lewis) McClure in Knoxville, Tennessee on July 30, 1890. He earned his A. B. (1910) and LL.B. (1911) from the University of Tennessee and his A.M. (1915) and Ph.D. (1924) from Columbia University. He was admitted to the Bar in Knoxville in 1911 and to the Bar of the United States District Court in 1920. McClure was twice married: once to Helen Mellen and once to Anne Taylor. He had three sons with his first wife: William Kyle, George Mellen, and Wallace.

For the vast majority of his professional career, McClure worked as an economic analyst for the Foreign Service Auxiliary (1920-1951). He was also deeply involved in education, serving as a visiting lecturer at the University of Virginia (1954-1955), as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Dacca in East Pakistan (1955-1956), as Consulting Director of the World Rule of Law Center (1958), and as a Visiting Professor of Law at Duke University (1958-1961). He authored numerous books and articles on such subjects as state constitution making, commercial policy, executive agreements, world law, and world legal order. McClure died in March of 1984 in Charlottesville, Virginia