Question: President Barack Obama delivered a speech in 2015 at a bridge named after what former Confederate brigadier general?
Context: On March 7, 2015, President of the United States Barack Obama delivered a speech at Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches on the subject of race relations within the United States.  Among the estimated 40,000 present were former President George W. Bush, former First Lady Laura Bush, and Amelia Boynton Robinson, John Lewis, Diane Nash, and many other 'foot soldiers' who had taken part in the march in 1965. Benjamin Franklin Gordon (May 18, 1826 – September 22, 1866) was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War (Civil War).  Gordon had been a private and bugler for a Missouri regiment serving in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War.  Gordon served in the Confederate Army under Brigadier General Joseph O. "Jo" Shelby in Missouri and Arkansas in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department throughout the war.  On May 16, 1865, with the war coming to an end, General E. Kirby Smith, as the Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, assigned Gordon to duty as a brigadier general.  The Confederate government took no action on the appointment and Confederate President Jefferson Davis did not officially appoint and nominate Gordon to the rank of brigadier general because the Confederate Senate last met on March 18, 1865 and Davis was captured by Union troops on May 10, 1865.  Although he was only aged 40 at his death, Gordon survived the war by little more than a year. Shefali Razdan Duggal (born November 22, 1971) is an Indian-born American Democratic political activist in San Francisco who is a Presidential Appointee to President Barack Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which supervises the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, for a term expiring in January 2018.  She was an active fundraiser for the Barack Obama election campaign in 2008 where she was a Trustee for the DNC South Asian American Leadership Council.  She focused on South Asian and Young Professional outreach, co-hosting a number of fundraising events for both the Senator and his surrogates.  She was a member of President Barack Obama's National Finance Committee for his reelection campaign in 2012, a co-chair for Obama Victory Trustees, and the Northern California Finance Committee.  She worked on the Massachusetts Democratic Party, New Hampshire Democratic Party, and Senators Ted Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein.  She also worked on the Al Gore presidential campaign in 2000, and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008. Robert Johnson Henderson (November 12, 1822 – February 3, 1891) was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War (Civil War).  His obituary stated that he was made a brigadier general by General Joseph E. Johnston, after Johnston witnessed Henderson making a desperate charge at the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, on March 10, 1865.  At the suggestion of his divisional commanders, Henderson signed his parole as a brigadier general.  Later, Henderson stated in his pardon application that he had been recommended for promotion to brigadier general but had never received a commission.  Henderson commanded a brigade for several weeks at the end of the war but never was officially appointed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and confirmed by the Confederate States Senate to brigadier general rank. The Edmund Pettus Bridge is a bridge that carries U.S. Route 80 Business (US 80 Bus.)  across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama.  Built in 1940, it is named after Edmund Winston Pettus, a former Confederate brigadier general, U.S. Senator from Alabama and Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.  The bridge is a steel through arch bridge with a central span of 250 ft .  There are nine large concrete arches supporting the bridge and roadway on the east side. "A More Perfect Union" is the name of a speech delivered by then Senator and future President Barack Obama on March 18, 2008 in the course of the contest for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination.  Speaking before an audience at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Obama was responding to a spike in the attention paid to controversial remarks made by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor and, until shortly before the speech, a participant in his campaign.  Obama framed his response in terms of the broader issue of race in the United States.  The speech's title was taken from the Preamble to the United States Constitution. Confederate Military History is a 12-volume series of books written and/or edited by former Confederate Brigadier General Clement A. Evans that deals with specific topics related to the military personalities, places, battles, and campaigns in various Southern United States states, including those of the Confederacy. Hardee Kirkland (May 23, 1868 – February 18, 1929) was an American film actor and director of the silent era and also appeared on stage.  Kirkland was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of former Confederate Brigadier General William Whedbee Kirkland, and the older brother of the actress Elizabeth Kirkland, who performed as Odette Tyler, he appeared in 41 films between 1915 and 1925.  He also directed 33 films between 1912 and 1914.  He died in California at the age of 60. May 1862 found Confederate Arkansas, with almost no organized army facing an invasion by forces under Union General Samuel R. Curtis.  In March, Major General Earl Van Dorn had been ordered to move his Army of the West, via riverboats to the east side of the Mississippi River to reinforce Confederate forces near Corinth, Mississippi, leaving the state of Arkansas with no organized Confederate forces.  Major General Thomas C. Hindman was dispatched to Arkansas to assume command of the Department of the Trans-Mississippi, arriving in Little Rock on 31 May 1862.  Earlier in the month, Confederate Brigadier General John S. Roane, who had been left in command in Little Rock by General Van Dorn, had managed to stop a Texas Cavalry Regiment that was traversing the state to join General Van Dorn in Mississippi.  This gave General Hindman one organized Cavalry Regiment to attempt to stop General Curtis's force from moving from Batesville, which had been occupied in early May, south to the state capital.  Fortunately for General Hindman, the Confederate Congress had passed a Conscription (Draft) law in April 1862.  The passage of this law had two effects that would help Hindman.  The first, the law provided a method of pressing manpower into the Confederate Army through conscription or threat of conscription.  Second, the law required that all existing Confederate regiments be re-organized, with new elections for officers, but gave the existing officers the option of resigning rather than standing for re-election.  Many of the regimental officers serving in Arkansas regiments east of the Mississippi river chose to resign and follow General Hindman back to Arkansas and assist in the raising of new forces.  This gave Hindman an officer corps around which to build his new army. Benjamin Hardin Helm (June 2, 1831 – September 21, 1863) was a Kentucky politician, attorney, Confederate brigadier general, and a brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln.  He was also the son of Kentucky Governor John L. Helm.  Helm was born in Bardstown, Kentucky.  He attended the Kentucky Military Institute and the West Point Military Academy and then went to study law at the University of Louisville and Harvard University.  He served as a state legislator and the state's attorney in Kentucky.  He also served as the assistant inspector-general for the Kentucky state guard.  Helm was offered the position of Union Army paymaster by his brother-in-law, President Abraham Lincoln, a position which he declined.  Helm felt it was an honor to serve in the Confederate States Army, where he was initially a colonel and later promoted to brigadier general.  Helm commanded the 1st Kentucky Brigade more commonly known as The Orphan Brigade.  He died on the battlefield during the Battle of Chickamauga.  Helm was married to Emilie Todd, the half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Answer: Edmund Winston Pettus