one of my friends from kindergarten -> high school was Gore Vidal's last personal assistant. I hang out with him about twice a year (including this coming weekend), last year we had a long conversation about Gore... He gave me a manuscript he was writing about his time with Gore (and other things). I devoured it in 7 hours. Three days later, Gore died.

Vidal was the last American. When he died, so did the final traces of the Old Republic.