 Canfield is most remembered as the "Father of the United States Coast Guard Reserve", as he spearheaded the effort to pass the legislation that funded the reserve in 1950.After graduating through the Binghamton, New York public school system, Canfield was drafted, and served as a private in the Signal Corps during 1917 and 1918, the last two years of World War I.After the war, Canfield went to Passaic, New Jersey and became a reporter.