In the present American system it can happen that the most preferred does not, but it cannot happen that the least preferred wins.

Well, it wasn't far short of that - the "first past the post" system produced a result in whch the winner came past the post second on the popular vote.

No system is perfect. To produce the kind of result Wolfgang suggests would require some very sophisticated tactical voting, it seems to me, with people voting for people they actually wish to see defeated, as opposed to the sort of tactical voting where you vote for your second choice, because you don't think your first choice would win.

On the other hand a skewed result under first past the post system - by which I mean a result where more people vote against the winner than for him or her - is built in. All it needs is for people to vote for the candidate they would like to see win.