William Hodges Mann was born in Virginia and attended Williamsburg Academy and Brownsburg Academy. He served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, eventually becoming a clerk in the Confederate Treasury department. After the war, he resumed his position as Deputy Clerk in Nottoway County and later read law, practicing in the same county. Mann was elected judge of Nottoway County and served multiple terms in the Virginia Senate, where he introduced significant educational reforms. He was elected Governor of Virginia, where he focused on temperance and public education initiatives.

William Hodges Mann's political identity is marked by an intriguing blend of progressive education reforms and regressive civil rights stances. His legislative efforts to expand public education contrast sharply with his refusal to intervene in racially biased judicial outcomes. Mann's wartime service in the Confederate Army further complicates his ideological positioning, revealing a nuanced approach to regional loyalty and governance.