Based on the details of this excerpt, the character trait that earliest presidents actually valued is "humility".
The earliest presidents were careful when running for office. They were so humble that they thought that anybody that sought for votes of the people actually wanted power by all means for the wrong reasons. As a result, even Washington maintained guarded silence on his ambition and just admitted his interest for presidency privately. Thomas Jefferson made a vow not to serve in any public office after he was the nation's first secretary of state.
They were humble and it reflected on their ambition.
