Ka cika wannan jumla: An haifi Meacham a Chattanooga, Tennessee. Iyayensa sune Jere Ellis Meacham (1946<unk>2008), wani gini da kuma ma'aikacin ma'aikata wanda aka yi masa ado don ƙarfin hali a lokacin yakin Vietnam, da Linda (McBrayer) Brodie. Kakanninsa na mahaifinsa, Ellis K. Meacham da Jean Austin Meacham, sun tashe shi bayan da iyayensa suka saki. Lokacin da yake yaro, kakansa yana tattaunawa kowace safiya tare da wasu maza game da siyasa ta gari da ta ƙasa. A sakamakon haka, Meacham ya sami sha'awar siyasa. Ya karbi gayyata zuwa Ronald Reagan ta
1981 rantsar da shi a Washington, DC, a cikin martani ga wata wasika da ya aika wa zaɓaɓɓen shugaban.