So the U.S. President (or some other country's leader) is strollin' along. I blast him with a duplication ray gun (secret service must have been snoozing). There are now two of him. How does the world react?
- The two copies are identical at the moment of duplication. It's not like an evil twin or anything.
- Both think they are the original. Indeed, neither one is really more original than the other.
- They can, of course, diverge after the duplication. Given that the president is at least 35 years old though, it's not likely they would develop different personalities or anything.
- Anything he is wearing or holding at the time is similarly duplicated.
- The only difference is that one appeared on the left, and one appeared on the right. Other than that, there's no distinction.
- There were a lot of witnesses.
- This is the first known use of duplication outside a laboratory (where it was generally done on atoms).
- Just for fun, let's say the President is known for ambition and being power hungry, treating anyone who challenges his power, including those with similar goals or principles, as a political rival or threat (but is otherwise a typical leader).
My question is, what happens to the U.S.? Reelection? Dual-Presidency? And which one of them is the man that woke up that morning, for legal purposes? What precautions would the world take to prevent similar or repeated instances?
Note: Although the leader is ambitious, he's not extremely ambitious. The point is that he thinks more in terms of power than political alignment, and doesn't like sharing power. He isn't any more violent or corrupt (sans not caring about political principles) than any other politician.