I don't really know anything about the personal style of Vaclav Havel or Kim Jong Il. My only real memory of Havel is reading a story about Frank Zappa's "state visit" to then-Czechoslovakia soon after the Velvet Revolution. The accompanying picture showed Havel and Zappa smiling and smoking. It always kinda pissed me off, because those cigarettes killed Zappa far before his time was otherwise due. But the picture also showed me that one of the more benign trappings of leadership is hanging out with cool dudes like Frank Zappa.

Like I said, though, I don't know much about either Havel or Kim, whose deaths were announced almost simultaneously. What I can say is that their countries are vastly different.

Havel was the leader of a democracy--after leading his nation out of totalitarian rule. He was at the forefront of both the Velvet Revolution (when Czechoslovakia dropped communist ideology in favor of democracy) and the Velvet divorce (when Slovakia split from what is now the Czech Republic). He also left office when his time was done. The Czech Republic has continued to prosper after his official leadership expired.

Kim Jong Il was "Dear Leader" until his death. And now his son takes over.

The Czech Republic is a productive member of the EU. There's been lots of talk about the problems in Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland, but nothing about Czech.

North Korea is perhaps the most oppressive state in the world. Most of its people are literally starving to death. Economists like to say (with plenty of justification) that democracies do not allow famines. They do blossom in autocracies, though there are few nations that seem to favor a state of perpetual famine the way North Korea does.

In other words, the Czech Republic is a successful state, and North Korea is not. By that very crude measure, Havel was a more effective leader than Kim.

But there's more to it, of course. That small point I made about the success of the Czech Republic after Havel's departure from official leadership is perhaps the most important measure of leadership. A true leader builds an organization (or a government) that is not dependent on one person. That's absolutely necessary in a democracy, but it's equally important in an autocracy or an oligarchy or whatever.

I've been reading a lot of ancient history during the last couple of years. There are plenty of books about "great" leaders (Alexander, Julius Caesar, Attila the Hun, any number of Chinese emperors, etc.). And while these leaders (I'd say men, but there are a couple of women in there; Stacey Shiff's recent book on Cleopatra is quite interesting) often built great empires, in every case (yes, every case) those empires began to crumble as soon as the "dear leader" departed. Generals and other aides to the great leaders fought amongst themselves for the spoils. The supposedly monolithic Roman Empire was wracked by civil war for about half of the time of its existence. Even after officially splitting into eastern and western spheres (thus removing one source of tension) there was plenty of internecine conflict. All those "great" leaders failed to create states that actually functioned.

And maybe it was impossible to administer a massive empire in the days of pedestrian-carried message. Lack of communication still causes plenty of problems today, even when it is possible to reach just about anyone within a few minutes.

But I think a true leader leaves a sustainable state. That's why Havel is rightly hailed as the Czech Republic's Washington. He led the drive to create that state, and then he stepped aside. And the state has prospered in his official absence.

Kim Jong Il? Whenever North Korea throws off the yoke of the Kims, his statues will be ripped down and melted into something that has more use. A plow, perhaps. In 100 years, few people (probably even Koreans) will remember Kim Jong Il. And Vaclav Havel will continue to be celebrated.

Yes, it helps that Havel was a poet and a playwright. He's just cooler than Kim any way you look at it. But his enduring gift was to write a future for his nation and to have the strength and confidence to step away and let that future unfold. That's leadership.

Jon Worley did like the Kim Jong Il puppet in Team America: World Police.