James A. Garfield III is the Great Great Great Grandson of the 20th US President James A. Garfield. Garfield possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hiram College and a Masters Degree from California University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Garfield is an Assistant Athletic Trainer and Professor at Case Western Reserve University. Garfield is actively involved with the following Garfield sites in the Cleveland area: the James A. Garfield National Historic Site, the Garfield Monument at Lake View Cemetery, and the James A. Garfield Log Cabin birth site. He also stays involved with alumni groups at Hiram College.

James has been married to his wife Elissa, whom he met at Hiram College, for 30 years. A rich history of parallelism exists in that President Garfield met his future wife, Lucretia, at Hiram College as well in 1849. James and Elissa have two children, Edward James 27 and Mollie 23.