Collins was a complex man whose character abounded in contradictions. Although Minister of Finance and an accountant by pre-war profession, he seems never to have pursued personal profit; indeed he was sometimes all but homeless during the war for independence. This characteristic was exemplified by a letter he wrote on 4 August 1922 to his canvassing agent; offering to pay half the bill for a hired election car because some of the journeys had been for personal trips. While clearly fond of command and keen to take charge, he had an equal appetite for input and advice from people at every level of the organisation, prompting the comment that "he took advice from his chauffeur." Although acknowledged by friends and foes as "head centre" of the movement, he continually chose a title just short of actual head of state; becoming Chairman of the Provisional Government only after the abdication of half the Dáil forced him to do so. While his official and personal correspondence records his solicitous care for the wants of insurgents in need, during the war he showed no hesitation in ordering the death of opponents who threatened nationalist lives.