President Clinton has welcomed the resignation of President Suharto and has offered US support for Indonesia "as it engages in democratic reform".
Mr Suharto resigned within hours of an apparent call for him to step down by the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright. But the White House denied she had called for his resignation.
It seemed to be a tactic of the US having it both ways. The Administration's policy towards the turmoil in Indonesia has been marked by uncertainty, as varying signals were being sent to Mr Suharto about the US attitude to him staying in power.
While there has been extensive military co-operation between the US and the Indonesian armed forces, there has also been aid to opposition and human rights groups through the US Agency for International Development. Now there are calls from members of Congress for a freeze on Suharto family assets held in the US. But the Administration believes that such a move might be illegal at this stage.
There are also reports that the US was ready with contingency plans to speed Mr Suharto out of Indonesia into exile if that would have prevented further bloodshed.
Until the street violence of last week, the US public attitude towards Indonesia was cautious. Washington does not have the kind of influence in Jakarta it had in the Philippines 12 years ago - which allowed President Reagan to send Senator Laxalt to President Marcos telling him to resign.
Military contacts between senior US officers and the Indonesian top command have been built up in recent years, however, although certain kinds of military aid have been banned. The US Special Forces were due to carry out training exercises with Indonesian troops later this year. The Secretary of Defence, Mr William Cohen, paid a visit to Jakarta earlier this year to discuss security matters at a time when the threat of civil disorder was growing as a result of IMF-imposed economic reforms.
As the violence in the streets last week threatened the stability of the huge country, the US, already preoccupied with the Indian nuclear tests, was forced to review its policy towards the Suharto regime.
Washington's assent to the latest $2.7 billion tranche of the IMF $43 billion rescue package due this week was challenged by senior Congress Democrats at what the New York Times called a "highly charged hearing" of the Asian sub-committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Monday. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said: "The message should be simple and direct. President Suharto has got to go." Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota said: "I think our silence is betrayal. We have to be on the side of the students."
Suddenly, the Administration began urging political reform in Indonesia, but without calling for President Suharto to stand down. It feared that his sudden departure could trigger worse chaos as contenders for succession jockeyed for power or a military coup was staged.
President Sukarno's surprise announcement on Wednesday that he would call elections and step down at some unspecified time in the future was seen in Washington as not going far enough to satisfy the opposition. Arrangements to evacuate the thousands of Americans living and working in Indonesia were stepped up.
Then on Wednesday, Ms Albright used a speech to the US Coastguard to drop a clear hint that Mr Suharto should go soon. Referring to his announcement of a transition period, she said: "Now he has the opportunity for a historic act of statesmanship -one that will preserve his legacy as a man who not only led his country, but who provided for its democratic transition."