Millions of viewers watched Senators Barack Obama and John McCain spar about the military strategy in Afghanistan Friday at the University of Mississippi, and tomorrow their running mates will face off.

Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian and Sunday morning talk-show regular Doris Kearns Goodwin will explore how history has helped shape presidential campaigns on Oct. 9 at Roger Williams University.

Goodwin, a best-selling presidential biographer, will speak as part of the university’s civil discourse series, with the theme this fall the American presidency.

“Understanding the complexity and evolution of the road to the White House is critical as voters make important decisions in this upcoming election,” university President Roy J. Nirschel said.

Goodwin has written on politics more than two decades. She won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995 for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.

In addition, she chronicled the Kennedys in The Fitzgeralds & The Kennedys, as well as President Lyndon B. Johnson, for whom she worked. Goodwin was the first female journalist to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room.

Goodwin’s presentation will be at 6:30 p.m. in the university’s recreation center gymnasium on the Bristol campus, Old Ferry Road. Admission is free and seating is limited. Call (401) 254-3067 for more information or to reserve a ticket.