Thomas Taggart was born in Ireland in 1856. As part of the great migration in the latter half of the 19th century, Taggart's family moved to Ohio and opened a string of highly successful restaurants. At the age of 20, young Tom was put in charge of many of them, including one in Indianapolis. Tom became so successful and popular that he decided to go into politics. He was elected Marion County Auditor at the age of 30. Two years later he was elected Marion County's Democratic Chairman. In 1892, as the most powerful and wealthy politician in the state, Taggart became the State Chairman of the Democratic Party. In 1895 he was elected Mayor of Indianapolis and served two consecutive terms.

Taggart had invested much of his money in the Grand Hotel in Indianapolis. It was a high profile property and served as a popular gathering site for the political movers and shakers of Indiana. Taggart was a highly effective mayor, turning Indianapolis into a modem, efficient city. He also ran a tight and tidy ship at the Grand Hotel and his success there fueled his interest in the property located in French Lick. Taggart, with brewery owner Crawford Fairbanks and quarry owner L.T. Dickens, bought 80 acres of land, negotiated a transportation deal with the Monon railroad, and devised a plan to finance a new resort in French Lick. Instead, the partners of the existing resort decided to sell. In 1901, the French Lick Springs Hotel merged with the previously purchased 80 acres, creating a new and improved French Lick Hotel with Tom Taggart at the helm.

By 1905, the once fire ravaged hotel was in the midst of a major rebuilding and renovation project. Taggart bought out his partners and paid off all his debts. His expansion plan doubled the size of the previous structures, building a Yellow brick front, six-story building where the Windsor once stood. The new front of the hotel featured an ornate canopy that covered the marble steps, and beautifully manicured grounds and gardens, with flower-lined walkways and trails, and green, lush fairways. The beauty of the property overwhelmed train travelers as they pulled into the French Lick Station.

Thousands of travelers flocked to the resort each year to take the water, enjoy the peaceful beauty of the area, and to gamble. The close proximity of French Lick to Louisville caused many patrons to stay at the hotel on the eve of the Kentucky Derby. The night before a "good" derby almost 100 trains would arrive in French Lick.

The resort looked and felt like paradise to the guests who visited each year. Many of those visitors had come to enjoy the games of chance thatBecame synonymous with French Lick. Gambling existed all over the Valley from the late 1800's to 1949 when Governor Schricker's raids finally closed the gambling establishments for good.

As the resort did well and flourished, so did the rest of the Valley. Taggart sold the Grand Hotel in Indianapolis, and focused. His efforts entirely on French Lick. Taggart brought electricity to the town in 1903, years before the rest of the country had power. He also added the world's shortest trolley line linking French Lick and West Baden by streetcar in 1904.

Pluto water was in national demand. It was carried in every drug store in America and many parts of the world. It won First prize at the World's Fair in Paris just after World War I. All the great cruise Ships were stocked with Pluto water for their voyages. A new plant was constructed to bottle and ship the curious water all over the world. The plant was built in, 1913 and remained open until 1971, when demand for the water declined to the point where it was no longer profitable to bottle. Pluto water was at one time the very symbol of health and vitality, and millions of bottles were sold every year. Each bottle sold promoted the French Lick Hotel, with a bold advertisement featured prominently on every label.

Taggart became the National Chairman of the Democratic Party in 1905 and moved into the party headquarters in New York. It was while in New York that Taggart worked so aggressively, but in vain, to defeat Theodore Roosevelt for the presidency. He initially backed Alton Parker and later, William Jennings Bryan.

By 1909, Taggart completed the family complex in Hyannis Port next to the Kennedy Compound. Thomas Taggart, Jr., would eventually reproduce the Cape Cod mansion in 1929 at French Lick which he named Mount Airie. The mansion is located on the former site of the French Lick Fort. Mount Airie is thought to be the highest point in Indiana.

By 1912, the Taggarts' political efforts were not in vein. Woodrow Wilson, along with Indiana's Governor, Thomas Marshall won the presidential election. This victory created a major shift in 20th Century politics. Taggart was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1916, and remained a powerful political figure until his death in 1929.

From 1915 to 1920, Taggart continued to add amenities and upgrades to the hotel. Along with improvements to the building, and a Donald Ross designed golf course, the hotel developed it's own food supply system, adding beef and dairy herds, chicken houses, and endless vegetable gardens.